With all due respect to the paying customers of Scotiabank Arena, the NBA’s best players continue missing games in Toronto.
Kawhi Leonard joined the growing list of stars to not suit up against the Raptors, including Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid, and Jaylen Brown.
Lucky for Los Angeles, they still have another All-Star who can both entertain and frustrate the opposition’s fans, James Harden.
The Bearded One overcame a slow first half to lead the visiting Clippers to a thrilling overtime win
over the short-handed Raptors. Harden finished with 31 points and 10 assists. He received help up and down the roster as three other starters and two bench players each scored in double figures. Ivica Zubac had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. In addition to being a pest all night on defense, Kris Dunn finished with 15 points and 4 steals. Jordan Miller led all reserves with 19 points and 6 assists, to go along with a game-high +20.
For most of the game, Toronto was led by Jamal Shead, who ended up with 15 points and a career-high 13 assists. Scottie Barnes took over in the overtime period, ultimately leading the Raptors with 24 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Heading into this matchup, the Clippers had rebounded from a 6-21 start, winning 11 of its previous 13 games (now 12 of 14). In addition to Kawhi’s absence (knee), Los Angeles was also Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring), Derrick Jones Jr. (knee), Patrick Baldwin Jr. (hip), and Chris Paul (uuhhhh).
The injury report remained long for the Raptors as they were without Jakob Poeltl (back), RJ Barrett (ankle), Immanuel Quickley (back spasms), Ja’Kobe Walter (hip pointer), Jamison Battle (ankle), and Chucky Hepburn (knee).
With Kawhi out, LA’s offense was clearly going to be very Harden-heavy. Darko Rajakovic held no punches and started the game with Scottie Barnes guarding the . On one of the first possessions, Harden called for a screen from Ivica Zubac, who was being guarded by Collin Murray-Boyles. Suffice to say, the possession ended with the Clippers not scoring.
Brandon Ingram has played well against the Clippers, mainly with his time on the Pelicans. On one sequence, he patiently waited for Harden to finish his dribble-shimmy-dance routine and blocked a stepback three attempt. Before Harden could complain for a foul call, Brandon was already sprinting out for an eventual fastbreak layup.
Halfway through the first quarter, Toronto had 10 fastbreak points, forced 3 turnovers, and had jumped out to an 18-4 lead.
With Quickley out for a second consecutive game, Jamal Shead took the proverbial bull by the horns. The Houston Cougar alum took advantage of the attention given to Ingram and Barnes to torch the Clippers with 10 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds in the first quarter alone!
Just like in Indiana, Toronto grabbed an early lead and didn’t let up. The Raptors ended the first quarter with a 32-24 lead, holding Los Angeles to 43% shooting and 20% from three, including 0-5 from Harden.
While the first 12 minutes were highlighted by Toronto’s ability to get out in transition, the offense slowed down in the second quarter when Ingram and Barnes took turns resting. Instead the relied on its defense to stem the Clipper tide. At the center of that defense — as has been the growing case since Poeltl’s injury — was Murray-Boyles.
CMB and Barnes surprised Zubac with a well-timed double-team, causing Big Z into a traveling violation. Shortly after, CMB doubled the ballhandler, then somehow recovered in time to block the three-point attempt. On a nightly basis, Collin has at least one defensive highlight that makes your jaw drop. If nothing else happens, Murray-Boyles has injected a similar kind of excitement that Barnes once garnered.
Toronto’s offense went through a bit of a lull in the second quarter as Los Angeles slowly crept back into the game. By the time Rajakovic called a timeout with 3:52 remaining in the second quarter, the Clippers had whittled the deficit down to 46-43.
Toronto’s on-ball defense on Harden was excellent throughout the first half. Whether it was Barnes, Murray-Boyles, or even Gradey Dick guarding him, Harden simply could not generate enough separation for a clean shot. Not long after airballing a three-pointer — his sixth straight miss from beyond the arc to start the game — Harden was finally able knock down a three.
Three was actually the magic number for the Clippers in the first half. Kobe Sanders, Cam Christie, Kris Dunn, Jordan Miller, Zubac, and Harden each scored three field goals apiece! While it took the rest of them between 3 to 5 attempts to get there, Harden needed 13 attempts.
Toronto carried a 61-52 lead into halftime.
Clippers came out of halftime scorching hot and focused, scoring 16 of the first 18 points of the third quarter and grabbing (and extending) its first lead of the game, 68-63.
After leading wire-to-wire against the Pacers, Toronto took it to heart after seeing themselves trailing. An Ingram triple was followed by a Mamu run! Sandro Mamukelashvili almost single-handedly snapped the Raptors out of its funk, scoring the next 7 Toronto points and pushing the Raps back into the lead, 73-72.
Cue Gradey Dick’s music! The reigning Raptors Chain recipient hit back-to-back threes to bring the crowd to their feet. Then, to top it off, dove for a loose ball and threw an outlet to fellow Jayhawk, Ochai Agbaji, for a breakaway opportunity. Agbaji was fouled, but drained the ensuring free throws to raise the lead to nine.
The Raptors ended up closing the quarter on an 8-1 run to enter the final quarter with an 89-78 lead.
Similar to the second and third quarters, Ty Lue and his group of ragtag Clippers clawed their way back into the game. A contested triple by Brook Lopez (remember him?) cut the lead to 89-87. After a Darko timeout, a layup by Christie completed an 11-0 run by Los Angeles to tie the game.
Both teams got contributions up and down the roster. After CMB scored an and-1 layup to put the Raptors up 109-101 lead with 3:35 remaining, 13 different players were in double-figures — yet not a single player had reached 20 points.
From there, it was the James Harden show. After being kept in check for most of the game, Harden scored the game’s next 8 points while the Clippers defense kept Toronto from scoring. Both teams were unable to score in each of their last two possessions, including a potential game-winning, buzzer-beater, which Harden missed.
In the extra session, Harden grifted his way to charity stripe on consecutive possessions, giving the Clippers a 4-point edge. Both foul calls were touchy at best, but when you’re a veteran like Harden, you know how to work the referees.
Do the math on the previous 3 paragraphs and the tally reads: Harden — 12; Raptors — 0, spanning five minutes of game play between the fourth quarter and overtime. Barnes took the early deficit in overtime as a sign to take over. All in all, Scottie and James went back and forth throughout the extra period, scoring 8 points each. Ultimately, the Raptors couldn’t get a single point to end regulation and put the game away, or find ways to stop Harden in overtime to regain momentum.
The Clippers may have won because of Harden’s heroics, but he wouldn’t have had that opportunity if it wasn’t for the help of his teammates. Cam Christie chipped in with 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting off the bench. Kobe Sanders amassed 13 points and 3 steals, stepping into the starting lineup for the ailing Leonard.
For the Raptors, Gradey Dick had a second consecutive positive game, finishing with 15 points and 7 rebounds off the bench. Ingram (19 points), Mamukelashvili (13 points), Murray-Boyles (11 points), and Ochai Agbaji (15 points) also scored in double-figures. Shead’s 8 first-half assists tied a season-high for any half this season.
Toronto heads out for a five-game road trip, starting in Los Angeles (the Lakers, this time) on Sunday. With the trade deadline less than 3 weeks away and the Raptors seemingly in every single rumour, the team’s resolve will be tested as they cling to the 4th spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
