Kawhi Leonard continues dominance of Raptors in thrilling battle in Los Angeles

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The Toronto Raptors might have to learn what life is like without Pascal Siakam later this season and they got a taste of it on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

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The Raptors showed little signs of fatigue despite playing a night earlier and in this one without two starters, in fact, the tempo was all out from the start in a game that whip-sawed back and forth all evening. Though the visitors fell short, 126-120 to the Los Angeles Clippers, they were full marks effort-wise, hanging around for most of the evening in a game that featured 20 lead changes in the first half and 15 more in the third quarter before the Clippers managed to survive in the fourth.

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Old friend Kawhi Leonard and running mate Paul George had 29 points apiece, Leonard improved to 14-2 all-time against Toronto and 55% shooting wasn’t enough for the Raptors to get the win.

Newcomers Immanuel Quickley (25 points) and RJ Barrett (24) led the Raptors, while Dennis Schroder added 22.

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Already down starting centre Jakob Poeltl, Toronto was also without two-time All-NBA forward Siakam, who sat due to back spasms. Siakam, who was been the subject of countless trade rumours dating to the off-season, was undercut a night earlier in the tough one-point loss against the Los Angeles Lakers and fell to the floor hard. The front court absences left the Raptors without the team’s leading scorer, No. 2 and 4 rebounders, No. 4 assist man and Poeltl was tied for the team lead in blocks and led all in field goal percentage.

The team went small in their place, starting Schroder alongside Quickley, with veteran Thad Young, 6-foot-8, starting at centre for the second day in a row. The result was a track meet and the older Clippers managed to compete on the scoreboard, but had serious issues slowing down Toronto’s offence. The Raptors shot 58% in the first half, but trailed by a point when ex-Raptor Norman Powell hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer. Toronto reclaimed the advantage by a point after a wild third quarter, but a 17-6 run to end the third and start the fourth put the Clippers in front for good, though another late rally made it close again before George sealed it with a three-pointer.

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Toronto was coming off a tough loss to the Lakers, but at least got to stay in Los Angeles for the next game and that appeared to help them stay fresh, as did head coach Darko Rajakovic going deep into his remaining bench. Rookie big man Jontay Porter showed flashes with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists in 18 minutes.

TROLL OR NO TROLL?

Only the Clippers know for sure whether it was merely coincidental that Toronto was in town the day Leonard was inked to a contract extension. While there isn’t bad blood between the two franchises, the Raptors were definitely not thrilled to see Clippers executives like Lawrence Frank at pretty much every one of their games, trying to get Leonard to notice them, during his lone season as a Raptor. Of course Leonard left Toronto to go home to the Raptors following the championship run. On Wednesday he agreed to an extension worth a rumoured $152.4 million U.S. over three years with the Clippers.

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While Leonard has battled injuries since joining the Clippers (he missed the entire 2021-22 season and played in only 52 games in both the preceding and following seasons), he’s returned to All-NBA form and there was little doubt he’d be sticking around. After all, Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, the richest in the NBA, has spent $1.2 billion on a state of the art new arena for the club set to open in 2024-25. Did anyone really think he wouldn’t have an all-star lineup set to take the floor there?

“We’re thrilled to continue our relationship with Kawhi,” Frank said in a statement. “He elevated our franchise from the moment he arrived. We feel fortunate that Kawhi chose to join the Clippers five years ago, and excited to keep building with him.”

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DINO BITES

Barrett had averaged 21.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and shot 50% from three since the trade, one of the best stretches of his career. Only Leonard and Rudy Gay scored more points in their first five games as a Raptor than Barrett. Siakam had also been rolling, averaging 23.8 points and shooting 61.1% from three. Poeltl had also been much improved … The Lakers shot the final 19 free throws of Tuesday’s game … The Clippers feature two Raptors from the championship team in Leonard and Norman Powell and Rajakovic coached both George and Westbrook when he was an assistant in Oklahoma City … The Raptors recorded at least 25 assists for a 26th straight game, extending the franchise record and the current longest streak in the NBA … Toronto finishes this road trip on Friday in Utah against the surging Jazz.

@WolstatSun

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