Raptors, sans Leonard, cruise past Clippers
LOS ANGELES — Serge Ibaka had 25 points and nine rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors cruised past the Los Angeles Clippers 123-99 on Tuesday night without injured Kawhi Leonard.
Kyle Lowry added 21 points, making four of the Raptors’ 14 3-pointers.
Leonard sat out with a bruised right hip that he hurt against Milwaukee last Sunday. Toronto’s leading scorer with 26.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game is day-to-day.
The Clippers endured their biggest loss of the season against the NBA’s best team (22-7).
Toronto shot 52 percent from the floor, had 34 assists and outscored the Clippers 28-4 in fast-break points.
Fred VanVleet had a career-high 14 assists starting in place of Leonard.
With leading scorer Tobias Harris held to 10 points — about half his 21.4 average — the Clippers were led by a pair of reserves.
Boban Marjanovic had 18 points and Tyrone Wallace added 15. Their fourth loss in six games dropped them into a tie for second with the Lakers at 17-10 in the Pacific Division.
The Raptors extended their lead in the third quarter, using an early 10-0 run followed by five consecutive 3-pointers to go into the fourth ahead 103-74. Lowry hit three of the 3s and Delon Wright had two.
Ibaka had back-to-back monster dunks before the 3-point onslaught began, drawing cheers on Canada Night at Staples Center.
SPURS 111, SUNS 86
In San Antonio, Texas, Bryn Forbes had a season-high 24 points and a career-best 11 rebounds to lead the Spurs.
San Antonio has won three straight halfway through a six-game homestand.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points in 25 minutes. He sat out the fourth quarter with San Antonio leading by as many as 25 points.
Phoenix, which was without leading scorer Devin Booker for the fifth straight game, never led while falling to 4-24.
T.J. Warren led the Suns with 23 points and De’Anthony Melton added 17. Rookie DeAndre Ayton was the only other Phoenix player in double figures, scoring 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
DeMar DeRozan was held to a season-low five points, but the 6-foot-7 guard attempted just six shots as he set up his teammates.
ROCKETS 111, TRAIL BLAZERS 103
In Houston, James Harden had 29 points and seven Rockets scored in double-figures as Houston used a big second-half run and snapped a three-game losing streak.
Chris Paul added a triple double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Clint Capela added 13 points and seven rebounds before fouling out with five minutes left, and Eric Gordon, who started in place of James Ennis, had 14 points for the Rockets, who shot 49 percent from the field.
Houston’s bench played a key role in a 24-6 first-half run that erased a 15-point deficit, and then led a charge in the second half. Gerald Green had 13 points, and Danuel House had 12 off the bench.