The Toronto Raptors walked out of the Intuit Dome with a win that looked a lot tougher than the final score suggests, rallying past the Los Angeles Clippers 125-118 after spending most of the night chasing the game.
Toronto was down by as many as 16 points overall and still faced a 13-point hole in the fourth quarter, but the comeback finally took shape late and the Raptors finished the job on the road. It was the kind of response they needed after dropping two straight.
One of the biggest hurdles came right from the opening tip. This was the second night of a back-to-back, and the Raptors never really found a clean offensive rhythm early.
The Clippers came out ready to blitz them, and they did exactly that. Toronto also had to adjust to a new starting group without Kawhi Leonard and Jakob Poeltl, which made the first stretch of the game even rougher.
As the night wore on, though, the Raptors settled in. Their offense started to breathe a little more, and the game shifted in their favor in the later stages. If there was a lesson here, it’s that Toronto needs a better start moving forward, and that will be a point of emphasis in the next game.
The other major wrinkle was the frontcourt. With Poeltl out because of a shoulder injury, Toronto leaned on Collin Murray-Boyles as the small-ball center.
That’s not an ideal long-term setup, especially after Murray-Boyles lost weight over the offseason, which limits how many lineups the Raptors can realistically use with him in that role. Still, he handled the assignment as well as he could.
Scottie Barnes also spent time protecting the rim, and that mattered. Toronto found enough success with Murray-Boyles at center to suggest that this look could come up again down the line.
For a team that had already lost two in a row, this was a big road win. It could have easily turned into the kind of loss that drags a 2-0 start into a .500 record, but instead the Raptors survived the early damage and came away with momentum as their road trip continues.
Toronto is back in action Wednesday against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET at Ball Arena, with coverage on TSN and streaming available on the TSN Plus app.
In Other News...
Gradey Dick Is Still Feeling The Raptors Trade Reality
Gradey Dick is still getting used to the strange rhythm of seeing the Raptors on the other side of the floor. In his second game against Toronto since being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers, Dick handled the matchup like a player who knows the business side of the league but still feels the personal side of it, talking afterward about adjusting to the change while keeping things cordial with his former teammates. He also had a solid night on the court, finishing with 12 points in 28 minutes.
The matchup carried a little extra weight because Brandon Ingram, another piece of the trade, was on the Clippers bench while recovering from injury. For Toronto fans, it was another reminder that the deal is still unfolding in real time, with former faces now scattered and the emotional residue of the move lingering even as both sides move on. Dick may be settling into his new uniform, but the first few meetings with his old team have made clear this one is going to take some getting used to. [Read more 🡒]
Raptors And Cavs Are Headed For A Pressure-Test Debate
The Raptors recent stretch has only sharpened the old reminder of how much Kawhi Leonard once steadied the group in big moments, and it has also made for an interesting comparison with Cleveland. Both teams can look polished when things are going their way, but the conversation around them has shifted toward how they respond when the game gets messy, when a lead starts to shrink and the pressure rises.
For Toronto, that lens matters because the franchise has lived through the difference between regular-season competence and playoff readiness. Cleveland is dealing with its own version of that test, with questions about blown leads, toughness and whether Evan Mobleys growth can help anchor a team that still has to prove it can absorb adversity. The Cavaliers may keep stacking wins over the long haul, but the real debate is whether they can survive the kind of heat the postseason tends to bring. [Read more 🡒]
Clippers Present The Exact Test Toronto Has Struggled To Handle
The Raptors are heading into a matchup with the Clippers that looks like a clean stress test for everything they want to be about. Torontos defensive identity has been a point of emphasis, and so has its ability to turn stops into transition offense, with Scottie Barnes and Immanuel Quickley central to how that tempo gets pushed. Against a Los Angeles team built to make opponents work for every possession, the pace of the game may matter as much as any individual scoring burst.
For Toronto, the bigger question is whether it can keep the contest on its terms long enough to avoid the kind of half-court grind that has exposed them at times. The Clippers bring the sort of tactical challenge that can force a team to stay disciplined on both ends, and this one figures to reveal a lot about how far the Raptors have come in controlling game flow. If they can dictate tempo, the matchup opens up in their favor, but if not, it could become the exact kind of night they have struggled to handle. [Read more 🡒]