![]() | LA Clippers | 109 | Final Box Score | 118 | Toronto | ![]() |
![]() C | P. Siakam16 MIN, 2 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 1 STL, 1-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 4 +/- Siakam had his struggles defensively tonight, particularly when wheedled into switches. Though he did have his moments – like that time in the first quarter where he brilliantly pushed Griffin away from the basket and denied a post-entry pass. | ||||||||
![]() C | D. Carroll23 MIN, 9 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 3-6 FG, 1-3 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 1 +/- He had the Reddick assignment tonight and was chasing him into the earth’s core. Sometimes he snuffed out Reddick’s space; other times he couldn’t prevent JJ from getting open. It looked taxing physically. This one drives me nuts:
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![]() A | J. Valanciunas32 MIN, 21 PTS, 12 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 9-13 FG, 0-0 3FG, 3-4 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 2 +/- Ok, there is some good stuff happening here lately. Jonas has put together an impressive string of games. Despite DeAndre Jordan playing good post-defense on him on a couple sequences, JV had his way on offense — automatic from the mid-range and decisive in the post. I swear, this stuff didn’t exist a year ago:
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![]() | D. DeRozan38 MIN, 31 PTS, 5 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 11-22 FG, 2-3 3FG, 7-9 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 1 +/- DeRozan looked rusty to start (missed his first three field goals and first two free throws) then started taking Rivers to school and getting his teammates involved. The Raptors, um, look better offensively when he plays. | ||||||||
![]() A | K. Lowry38 MIN, 24 PTS, 4 REB, 8 AST, 0 STL, 6-14 FG, 5-8 3FG, 7-7 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 4 +/- Hit some tough shots against pesky defenders in Felton and Reddick. I don’t know. I’m kind of desensitized to how good Lowry is. | ||||||||
![]() B+ | L. Nogueira26 MIN, 8 PTS, 6 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 3-6 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 2 +/- Apart from letting Speights have miles to shoot early on from deep, Bebe improved defending the perimeter by disrupting the passing lanes. This might be one of my favorite Bebe plays of this season. Dude is an octopus:
Love how he’s always rolling to the rim and manifesting himself for a layoff at the rim:
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![]() B- | C. Joseph20 MIN, 12 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 4-9 FG, 0-3 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 9 +/- Glad to see him back, but he’s still not the the Cory Joseph we know despite having some nice dribble penetration throughout. It is harsh on him to be too nit-picky, given how hard he works on the floor, but he needed to play smarter when closing out shooters outside. This happened a couple times:
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![]() D | T. Ross19 MIN, 3 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 1-4 FG, 1-4 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 23 +/- Immediately gave the Raptors life when he came in off the bench (when the Raptors desperately needed it). He was making good decisions, baiting defenders, and slinging the extra pass. Then, Terrence Ross happened. All of those good habits were ensued by two turnovers and two bad shots. Now here’s the ultimate twist: He had a team-high three turnovers, but was also a team-high +22. I can’t exactly pin point this now, it will require some extra film watching tomorrow. | ||||||||
![]() B+ | N. Powell12 MIN, 5 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2-4 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -6 +/- Immediately came in to convert an alley-oop and hit a 3. Give. Him. Minutes (more than a quarter). | ||||||||
![]() C+ | J. Poeltl9 MIN, 3 PTS, 3 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 1 +/- Poeltl tonight — very aggressive playing defense on Blake Griffin, and he’ll never get the benefit of the whistle during those situations. But here’s an example of him harnessing that aggression in a way that’s conducive to the Raptors’ success:
Also did well to protect the rim on a couple occassions where DeRozan was blown-by, and did a respectable just denying Speights on the outside. | ||||||||
![]() | J. Sullinger6 MIN, 0 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 4 +/- He put a body on Blake for 5 minutes and took a seat.
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![]() A | Dwane Casey None of these comments are to grade him, they’re just observations: – Coach went deep into the rotation tonight, and went to his bench early. And here’s my last note related to Casey tonight: Norman Powell needs to be given the keys, even when the squad is healthy. |
Things We Saw
- Not stringing 48 minutes is still a problem — but it also isn’t, because the Raptors ultimately trumped their bad start with a gargantuan 2nd quarter. The Raptors showed awful defense to start the game (down 17-6); with the Clippers shooting 6 of 8 with very little fight from the Raps’.
Then the Raptors surged, DeRozan woke up, and the Clippers looked gassed. Job done, and the Raptors picked up a really ‘feel-good’ victory tonight — a blowout against a tough opponent to remind them how good they are.
- Uh, the amount of bad luck this Clippers team goes through is nuts. Their free-fall is going to make the first round match-up in the playoffs insanely interesting when Paul comes back.
- The Clippers hit a lot of tough threes tonight, particularly from Rivers (4/6), Griffin (2/3), and Speights (3/7). They shot 37.1% from three overall. They just didn’t any other faucets of the game where they dominated.