The Clippers vs Raptors recap from Vancouver is a short one: the Toronto Raptors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 114-106 on Saturday at Rogers Arena in the NBA Canada Series, and the Clippers never really got going. They fell behind early, trailed by 20 in the third quarter and never got closer than eight after that. Kawhi Leonard watched from the Toronto bench in sweats, and Brandon Ingram did not make the trip.
It was a preseason game, and the Clippers (1-1) were missing Max Strus. Still, it answered a few of the questions we raised in our Clippers vs Raptors scouting report, starting with turnovers.
Clippers vs Raptors Recap: How the Game Went
By quarter, the Clippers scored 18, 27, 27 and 34 while the Raptors scored 24, 33, 32 and 25. Toronto led 57-45 at halftime, and the Clippers scored just four points in the first 5:52, according to the Press Enterprise. The Raptors pushed the lead to 75-55 in the third, with RJ Barrett hitting a three and Immanuel Quickley following with two more. The Clippers’ reserves trimmed it to 99-91 with 4:45 left, but Toronto pulled away again. The Clippers outscored Toronto 34-25 in the fourth, once both benches were in.
The Numbers: A Turnover Win, a Shooting Loss
These figures are the same in the ESPN and CBS Sports box scores. Clippers numbers come first.
- Field goals: 33-of-77 (42.9%) to 40-of-79 (50.6%).
- Three-pointers: 9-of-28 to 12-of-29.
- Free throws: 31-of-39 to 22-of-33.
- Offensive rebounds: 8 to 18.
- Turnovers: 15 to 20.
- Assists: 23 to 25. Steals: 9 to 9. Blocks: 3 to 3.
The turnover line is the surprise. The Clippers committed 22 in Honolulu against the Warriors, and Tyronn Lue had made ball security a priority. In Vancouver they had 15 and forced 20. They also got to the line 39 times and made 31. What sank them was shooting efficiency, the 18 offensive rebounds Toronto grabbed, and a starting group that never found its rhythm.
Tyronn Lue’s Lineup Experiment
With Strus out, Lue said before the game that he wanted to experiment with starting lineups. He started Darius Garland, Derrick Jones Jr., Rui Hachimura, Brook Lopez and Cam Christie. According to the Press Enterprise, that group managed four points in the first 5:52, on baskets by Lopez and Christie. The paper wrote that Lue “might not want to do this again.”
Garland finished with 11 points and four assists in 19 minutes on 4-of-11 shooting. The Press Enterprise reported that he picked up a technical foul in the second quarter and did not play in the second half. The reason for his early exit was not given in the coverage we found.
Hachimura led the Clippers with 14 points, going 7-for-7 at the line, and Yuki Kawamura added 10 points and four assists in 14 minutes. Rookie Baba Miller had 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting with four rebounds, two steals and a block. Keaton Wagler, who came off the bench, scored nine points on 3-of-9 shooting with two three-pointers. Kris Dunn had six assists and two steals but scored just one point. Isaiah Jackson had eight points but five of the Clippers’ 15 turnovers. Lopez grabbed seven rebounds in 15 minutes.
Gradey Dick’s “Bittersweet” Night
The emotional storyline belonged to Gradey Dick, who faced the team that drafted him 13th overall in 2023. Dick came to the Clippers with Ingram in the Leonard trade. He called the night “bittersweet” and said the lesson he took from Toronto is “that you need to be prepared.”
On the court, Dick played 13 minutes and scored four points, going 1-of-3 from the field and 0-of-1 from three, per ESPN. (Sportsnet’s game story lists him as 1-of-4; the box score shows three attempts.) Lue was direct about what he needs. “He’s very athletic, very good cutter, very good in transition,” Lue said. “(But) then he just has to have confidence every night in his three-point shot, to be a 38-to-39 per cent three-point shooter.” Lue said he talked to Dick this summer about getting to 38 or 40 percent. Dick shot 30.1 percent from three last season in Toronto, according to Sportsnet.
What the Raptors Did Well
Barrett led Toronto with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, with five rebounds and five assists. Quickley scored 18 in 19 minutes, going 5-of-6 from three. Scottie Barnes had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Collin Murray-Boyles added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Jakob Poeltl had nine points and two steals. Toronto got 12 fast-break points in the first half, per Sportsnet, helped by Quickley’s defensive pressure.
Leonard is still ramping up. Sportsnet reports he is likely to make his Raptors debut Tuesday against the New York Knicks at Scotiabank Arena, but that is a report, not a team announcement. His first game against the Clippers will be a regular-season matchup on Monday, November 2, at Intuit Dome.
Lue also addressed the bigger picture after the game, rejecting any idea that the Clippers are tanking: “The league has improved a lot and there’s no sense in losing games. There’s no tanking. … Our goals don’t change no matter who is on the floor. It’s going to be tough, but we want to make the playoffs, and we want to play hard.”
The Toronto Raptors posted head coach Darko Rajakovic’s media session on their YouTube channel:
What’s Next for the Clippers
The Clippers host the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, October 14, at 7:30 p.m. PT at Intuit Dome, according to NBA.com’s Clippers schedule, and the regular season opens October 21 at home against Sacramento. Strus is still out with a foot injury, and Ingram is still recovering from his Achilles injury. Neither Bradley Beal nor Kobe Sanders appears in the Vancouver box score, and we found no new update on either. Our injury report has the last status we have for both.
Unconfirmed
- Why Garland did not play in the second half.
- Whether Beal or Sanders was available, and when either will return.
- Whether Leonard plays Tuesday for Toronto.
For the lineup questions that carried into this game, see our recap of the Honolulu win over Golden State.
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