Clippers sixth straight loss, and maybe the most painful one yet: Toronto beat Los Angeles on Monday night, 125-118 at Intuit Dome, after trailing by 13 points going into the fourth quarter. The Los Angeles Clippers led for 94% of the game, according to ESPN’s team stats. The Toronto Raptors then won the fourth quarter 47-27, and Scottie Barnes scored 15 of his 22 points in that period. Kobe Sanders’ career-high 26 points and Max Strus’ first regular-season minutes as a Clipper were not enough. Los Angeles is 1-6 and has not won since opening night against Sacramento on Oct. 21.
In the postgame press conference above, Tyronn Lue talks about Darius Garland’s back, Kobe Sanders’ role, Strus’ energy and Gradey Dick, whose cuts he called “lethal.”
How a 13-point lead disappeared
For three quarters, the Clippers controlled the game. They held Toronto to 22 points in the first quarter, led 63-52 at halftime, built the lead to 16 and entered the fourth up 91-78. Then Toronto slowed the game down and attacked the basket, and the Clippers kept fouling. The Raptors went 31-for-48 from the line overall. The Clippers were called for 34 fouls, and both Brook Lopez and Kris Dunn fouled out.
“We fouled too much,” Strus said, according to The Sporting Tribune. “They slowed the game down. They got free throws. They stopped the clock a lot and that gave up our lead.”
According to the Associated Press, Barnes gave Toronto its first lead with a turnaround jumper with 2:08 left, as part of a 12-1 run. That was the only lead change of the game. Barnes finished with 22 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists, and Toronto had a 62-54 edge in paint points. Immanuel Quickley led the Raptors with 27 points on 8-for-13 shooting and 10-for-11 at the line. RJ Barrett added 26, Collin Murray-Boyles had 18 and seven rebounds, and Jamison Battle made four threes for 12 points off the bench.
Kobe Sanders’ career night
Sanders started and played a team-high 38 minutes. He scored 26 points on 8-for-17 shooting, made 5 of 11 threes and went 5-for-5 at the line without a turnover. The AP confirms the Kobe Sanders career high. Lue was asked about Sanders’ role in his postgame press conference (the 0:51 mark of the video above). With Rui Hachimura and Derrick Jones Jr. sidelined, Sanders gave the Clippers the scoring they had been missing on the wing.
Isaiah Jackson came off the bench for the first time this season and scored 19 points on 9-for-11 shooting with eight rebounds. Keaton Wagler added six points and four assists off the bench. Gradey Dick started and had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. The AP reports it was his first start for the Clippers. “His cuts are lethal,” Lue said of Dick, who came to Los Angeles in the September trade that sent Kawhi Leonard to Toronto.
Max Strus returns, Darius Garland’s back
Strus played 23 minutes in his Clippers regular-season debut. He scored 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting from three, with six assists and four rebounds, and was plus-2. Lue said Strus “raised our level of intensity.”
The bigger concern may be Garland. He had 16 points on 5-for-14 shooting, eight assists and seven turnovers, and was minus-16. Toronto had Barnes guard him and made him bring the ball up the full length of the court. It was the second night of a back-to-back after Sunday’s 124-112 loss at Golden State. Lue said the team would look at Garland’s back. “We’ll take a look at it,” he said. In the locker room, Garland said he wants the heavy workload. “I wanted this,” he said. He said the way out of the skid is “taking care of the ball, keep swinging the ball, let everybody touch it.”
Lue coached despite an illness that kept him from his pregame news conference. According to the AP, a team spokesman had called him a game-time decision.
Injury report
Rui Hachimura (quadriceps) and Derrick Jones Jr. (knee) did not play. ESPN lists both as day-to-day. Brandon Ingram (Achilles), Bradley Beal (knee) and Konan Niederhauser are out. Nick Martinelli, Jalen Pickett, Blake Wesley and Cam Christie did not play by coach’s decision. Toronto played without Kawhi Leonard (left knee), so his first game back in Southern California since the trade will have to wait. The AP says Leonard spent the previous seven seasons with the Clippers. The NBA’s investigation of the Clippers over the Leonard situation ended with the forfeiture of five first-round picks, a $30 million fine and a one-year suspension for owner Steve Ballmer.
By the numbers
- Quarters: Clippers 33-30-28-27, Raptors 22-30-26-47.
- Shooting: Clippers 42-for-91 (46%), 13-for-35 from three. Raptors 43-for-83 (52%), 8-for-29 from three.
- Free throws: Clippers 21-for-27, Raptors 31-for-48.
- Turnovers: Clippers 15 (Toronto scored 21 points off them), Raptors 13 (the Clippers scored 15 points off them).
- Attendance: 16,044.
What’s next: Clippers vs Heat
After a Clippers vs Raptors loss that hurt this much, the Clippers get a day off before hosting the Miami Heat on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7:30 p.m. PST. Miami is 2-5 and just lost 138-117 to the Lakers at the start of a five-game West Coast trip. Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in that game. Toronto goes to Denver on Wednesday. For the Clippers, any update on Hachimura, Jones Jr. or Garland’s back before Wednesday will show how much help they will have against Antetokounmpo.
Notes and conflicts
- Strus’ status: ESPN’s Nov. 2 injury report listed Strus as out, but he played 23 minutes. We could not confirm the specific injury from the sources we checked, so we are not naming one until the team confirms it.
- Garland’s back: Lue described it only as something the team will “take a look at.” There is no official injury designation yet, and whether he plays Wednesday is unconfirmed.
- Kobe Sanders’ starts: The AP confirms the career high. We could not confirm from the sources we checked how many starts Sanders has made this season.
Subscribe to Infanity TV on YouTube for every Clippers postgame press conference, locker-room interview and daily NBA coverage.
