Raptors rally previous Clippers in fourth quarter as Leonard misses reunion

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The line fashioned three hours earlier than tip and was going robust minutes earlier than the ball went up. 

Los Angeles Clippers followers gathered within the plaza outdoors the trendy marvel that’s Intuit Dome and waited patiently to rid themselves of their dangerous vibes. Specifically, they have been lining as much as change their previously iconic No. 2 Kawhi Leonard Clippers jerseys for one thing new and totally different. A No. 1 Keaton Wagler maybe, or a No. 31 Max Strus, or perhaps even a Gradey Dick No. 9.

The decisions for brand spanking new jerseys assorted, however the main jersey being returned was Leonard’s, and it wasn’t significantly shut. 

That’s what occurs whenever you spend seven seasons with a workforce, don’t win a playoff collection for the final 5 of them and miss greater than 40 per cent of their video games on account of harm. Oh, after which depart amidst one of many NBA’s biggest scandals the place it was discovered that Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer funnelled hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to Leonard by way of phony endorsement offers. 

While Leonard arrived in Toronto this season on a tidal wave of 2018-19 championship nostalgia, Clippers followers have been fuming, heartbroken or each after an NBA investigation decided the Clippers had circumvented the wage cap to Leonard’s profit and required them to forfeit 5 first-round picks, pay a $30-million high quality and droop a number of key personnel, together with Ballmer. 

When the 2026-27 schedule got here out, the Raptors’ first sport in Los Angeles in opposition to the Clippers was immediately circled as a second when followers may vent at their departed anti-hero. A Shakespearean drama proper there on the calendar.

Well, it didn’t fairly work out that approach, for causes all too acquainted to Clippers followers. Leonard wasn’t even within the constructing as he left the Raptors final week after his left knee started swelling up. He has been receiving therapy and relaxation at an undisclosed location that’s not Toronto. An replace on his situation is anticipated on Tuesday. He is probably going two weeks, at minimal, from enjoying once more and could possibly be additional away than that.

Instead, Monday’s contest was anticlimactic. Just one other sport on the schedule between two drained groups enjoying on the second evening of a back-to-back.

Short Leonard and with out Jakob Poeltl for the second straight sport, the Raptors appeared drained and disorganized for many of the evening, but by some means discovered some legs and surged again from a 12-point gap with six minutes left to win going away, 125-118. The win improved their document to 4-3 and 1-1 on their four-game street swing that stops in Denver subsequent. 

The Raptors trailed by 13 with two minutes left within the third quarter and stayed down by double digits virtually your entire sport till they pulled it out in the long run, forcing the Clippers into six turnovers and 30 per cent capturing within the fourth quarter. 

“Sometimes the game is just not going your way, and you’ve to make it go your way with defence, with stops, with rebounding, taking care of the ball,” stated Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley, who scored 14 of his game-high 27 factors within the remaining quarter. “Sometimes the game, literally whatever you do, it sometimes doesn’t go your way. But you got to just kind of stick with it. I think sports teaches that a lot. When it’s not going your way, you got to make it go your way.”

Scottie Barnes (22 factors, 15 rebounds, eight assists) pulled the Raptors inside two with 3:26 to play; RJ Barrett (26 factors, six rebounds, three assists) tied it with a twisting lay-up a second later and Barnes put the Raptors forward for good with a fadeaway with 2:08 to play. It obtained bushy on the finish, and the Raptors wanted to win two coach’s challenges to ensure they may shut it out, however they closed it out. 

It was a tricky blow for the Clippers, who fell to 1-6 and look to have years of basketball purgatory forward of them. 

Monday may have not less than offered some catharsis if Leonard was enjoying and even on the bench with the Raptors, however his wonky knees allow them to down once more. All there was left have been the hypotheticals. 

“If he was playing, I was definitely going to boo him,” stated Ralston Dacanay, 28, who was exchanging his Clippers jersey for one representing Wagler, the No. 5 choose within the 2026 draft. “It left a sour taste, the way he left. If he was just leaving without all the other stuff, the scandal and the draft capital, that would have been one thing, but the draft capital, that’s hard to stomach. It would have been pretty fun to boo him for sure.”

Agreed, stated Cole Kinslow, who additionally opted for a Wagler jersey over his outdated No. 2. 

He’s been a Clippers fan for the reason that “Lob City” period, when Blake Griffin was crowning the opposition on the receiving finish of Chris Paul passes. The Leonard period was alleged to be even higher and ship a championship for the long-beleaguered franchise. 

“Like, with those draft picks, we lost 10 years of the future for something that never really happened, and now we’re just stuck in this weird mumbo jumbo,” stated Kinslow, referring to the aggressive window with Leonard that closed earlier than it was ever actually absolutely opened. “Like if he just left, sure, okay. But now it’s like we’re screwed for however many years. And he seemed extremely excited to get out of here.”

Any recommendation for Raptors followers who can stay up for not less than three extra years of doubtless scintillating seasons interrupted by harm updates and uncertainty?

“I mean, if he’s healthy, he’s still a good player, you can’t deny it,” Kinslow stated. “But he’s already out with knee inflammation or load management, right? It’s going to be a long roller-coaster, like it was for us.”

1. Finding his approach: “It’s crazy.” That was Gradey Dick’s reply after I requested him about being in his fourth season already. But time flies within the NBA, and the previous Raptor has shortly transitioned from being a lottery choose and a prospect to a participant within the final 12 months of a contract, making an attempt to show his price to a brand new workforce after being included within the deal that despatched Leonard to the Raptors. “Every single year I learn more and more,” stated Dick. “I know how to hold myself as a player and as a person, with whatever I got through. And coming here after a trade, I learned a ton through that. And I’m just coming into this trying to find my role, and I feel like I’m doing that every single day.” Dick obtained his first begin of the season in opposition to his outdated workforce and responded properly, delivering 12 factors, 4 rebounds, three assists and two steals in 29 minutes. 

2. Missing the simple ones: The different day in opposition to the Orlando Magic, the Raptors have been lamenting that they solely obtained to the free-throw line 15 occasions. No complaints on Monday because the Raptors shot 48 free throws to the Clippers’ 27. But in the event that they’re going to get there, they should make them. The Raptors shot simply 31-for-48 from the road, and that’s with Quickley making 10-of-11. The remainder of the roster was 21-for-37, or 57 per cent. The Raptors additionally shot simply 8-of-29 from three. For the season, the Raptors are twenty fifth in free-throw capturing (74.4 per cent) and twenty seventh in three-point capturing (31.5 per cent). 

3. Old good friend: After the buzzer, a number of Raptors mobbed Brandon Ingram, their outdated teammate who was additionally included within the Leonard deal. Ingram has but to play for the Clippers as he recovers from surgical procedure on his ankle and {a partially} torn Achilles tendon. He was within the G League on a rehab task and is anticipated to return to the court docket quickly.