Despite having a few days of rest, the Toronto Raptors could not come away with the victory as the Los Angeles Clippers came into town and left with a 127-107 victory. The Raptors were undermanned and this was shown tremendously from the very beginning.
The importance of Jakob Poeltl to this team can’t be understated as each game without him becomes more apparent. The Clippers’ size proved a significant problem for Toronto and was exploited from the opening tip. Although Ivica Zubac was sidelined for the Clippers, they still had Mason Plumlee and Daniel Theis. James Harden brought out the full potential of both bigs and looked like his former self in the process.
The former MVP finished with a triple-double consisting of 22 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds. He was torching every coverage the Raptors threw his way and when Toronto was close to slowing him down, then Paul George got it going, and then after that Kawhi Leonard began to heat up. George finished with 21 points and Leonard in his return to Toronto finished with 16 points, most coming in the third quarter.
Another player made their return to Toronto and that was Norman Powell who made his presence felt. Powell finished with 17 points with nine of them coming in the final period, adding to his already established case for Sixth Man of the Year.
The Raptors were also without Immanuel Quickley, which put more ball-handling duties on their main two guys who showed up yet again. RJ Barrett and Scottie Barnes continue to play high-quality basketball and did it again tonight. Barrett finished with 22 points, six rebounds and four assists, however, struggled from the free-throw line, going 4-8. Scottie Barens led all scorers with 23 points along with five rebounds and four assists.
Despite finishing with just six points, Gradey Dick had one of the best games of his young career. His feel for the game was at an all-time high and he made the right play on many different occasions.
Toronto’s free-throw shooting continues to be a problem as the team with 13-22 from the line shooting just 59 percent, meanwhile, the Clippers were 92 percent on 22-24 shooting.
The Raptors losing streak reaches four games as they drop to 16-29 on the season. They will now get ready to face off against the Atlanta Hawks on the road on Sunday, January 28th at 6 PM ET.
