INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard had 27 points, Darius Garland added 24, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Toronto Raptors 119-94 on Wednesday night.
Bennedict Mathurin had 23 off the bench and Brook Lopez scored 11 of his 14 points in the first quarter for the Clippers, who have won three in a row.
Los Angeles stayed a half-game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers for eighth in the Western Conference.
Brandon Ingram had 18 points, Sandro Mamukelashvili
chipped in with 13, but the Raptors have now lost three straight.
Toronto dropped into sixth in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the Atlanta Hawks, and is a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers in seventh.
With Lopez setting the tone, the Clippers outscored the Raptors 23-9 over the final 6:10 of the first quarter to open a 14-point lead.
The Raptors found themselves trailing by 22 in the second quarter before a late 11-1 run cut the gap. However, Toronto could have cut into the advantage even more had it capitalized better on 10 offensive rebounds or from the free-throw line, where it shot 14.3% (1 for 7) in the period.
Mamukelashvili knocked down consecutive 3-pointers as the Raptors tried to make one more push late in the third quarter, only for the Clippers to pull away again, with Garland making a 35-footer at the buzzer.
Los Angeles was 19 for 24 from the free-throw line and outscored Toronto there by 15 points.
Raptors center Jakob Poeltl was briefly forced out of the game after sustaining a cut near his left eye going up for a rebound early in the second quarter and finished with 10 points.
Raptors: Host the Pelicans on Friday night.
Clippers: Visit the Pacers on Friday night.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
