Raptors bring a little more in tight game against L.A.
The scouting report on the Clippers: They're always gonna give you a game.
“I know this team plays really hard, they play really hard,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said before his team escaped with a 103100 victory over the Clippers on Wednesday before a sellout crowd of 19,068 at Crypto.com Arena. “They really compete and that's good, I'm glad, I hope they do, I hope we do.”
Even with Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Norman Powell – about 71 points, on average – all sitting on the bench, injured and invested observers, the Clippers gave a streaking Toronto team all it could handle.
Marcus Morris Sr. finished with 22 points and seven rebounds but he just couldn't shake Precious Achiuwa, who blocked Morris' 3-point attempt with 1.3 seconds left that would've tied the game had it gone.
Reggie Jackson added 23 points and nine assists in the loss and, off the bench, Terance Mann had 16 points and nine rebounds and Isaiah Hartenstein chipped in with 12.
For Toronto, Pascal Siakam finished with 31 points on 12-for-18 shooting, to go with 12 rebounds. Fred VanVleet added 21 points.
The Raptors (39-30) were playing the sixth game of a six-game road trip – of which they'd won four consecutive, hitting the road with motivation aplenty.
Toronto came into Wednesday's contest in seventh place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. The top six in each conference are guaranteed to get into the playoffs.
With the eighth seed and a spot in a play-in game all but cemented, the Clippers' motivation was more philosophical: Getting better, getting ready.
“I think we're mentally focused and they understand that we have some things that we gotta continue
Clippers forward Robert Covington reacts to a foul call during the second half against the Toronto Raptors in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Clippers were edged 103-100.
to get better at,” Lue said before tipoff. “Some things we have to add.”
The first half, for the most part, lived up to Raptors coach Nick Nurse's billing when he said the Clippers “really compete and that's good, I'm glad. I hope they do; I hope we do.” Twelve lead changes, five ties backed him up, and an 11-2 run gave his team a 10-point buffer at the break.
The Raptors' 11-4 sprint immediately after intermission helped them surge further ahead, building a 65-48 lead with 9:42 to play in the third quarter.
The Clippers' reputation as comeback artists – said Nurse: “they never give up, right?” – remains intact as the hosts flirted with their 13th double-digit comeback this season.
Tyronn Lue's team trailed just 78-74 at the end of the third quarter after they closed with a furious 9-0 flurry of their own.
The deficit was down to 83-81 after Mann's 3-pointer with 8:18 to play.
The game of runs teetered back Toronto's way after that, as they extended the lead to 93-83.
And then it tottered back L.A.'s way, when Lue won a coach's challenge that erased an offensive foul on Jackson and sent him to the line for an andone play that made it 9593 Raptors.
After four quick points by Toronto, Jackson charged back inside and got a tough reverse layup to fall, trimming the lead back to two points – 99-97.
Nicolas Batum buried a 3-pointer – the Clippers' third attempt on the possession – to get the Clippers closer still 101-100, after which VanVleet drew a foul, knocked down the first of two and then corralled his own miss before getting fouled again.
He stepped to the line with nine seconds left and again hit the first of two before Batum wrestled the rebound away and the Clippers called timeout with 6.2 remaining.
The Clippers' fifth loss in seven games dropped them back to .500 at 3636. A pit stop in L.A. between a just-completed three-game road trip and a two-game jaunt to Utah and Denver on Friday and Tuesday.
THE SCORE
RAPTORS 103, CLIPPERS 100
Up next: Clippers at Jazz, Friday, 6p.m., BSSC