The west coast road trip continues for the Toronto Raptors as they will be heading to the newly-built Intuit Dome to face off against the Los Angeles Clippers. As they continue to battle through numerous injuries up and down their roster, Toronto will yet again have to overcome these things. The injury report has gotten deeper as it was announced that Ja’Kobe Walter will now be out. The Clippers are facing injury issues of their own with the absence of Kawhi Leonard, but they have still been finding ways to win even in his absence.
A big reason why the Clippers have managed to win any games this season despite not having their best player in any of them is Norman Powell. Powell has been tasked with a heavier scoring load and to say he has handled it well would be an understatement. Powell is averaging 25.7 points per game and he is shooting 51 percent from the field and a staggering 49 percent from three. Powell is a lethal scorer who is very good off the ball, and he and James Harden have found synergy on the floor together.
Harden is the player who runs the Clippers offense and although he isn’t who he once was as a scorer, he still has a very positive impact on games. Harden is a very good pick n’ roll playmaker and he uses it to get downhill and open up opportunities for everyone else, such as his usual pick n’ roll partner Ivica Zubac. So with Harden, Powell, and Zubac alone, Toronto is going to have their hands full with these three alone so obviously containing them will be a priority. Davion Mitchell’s point-of-attack defense on Harden, and his screen navigation will be key in containing Harden somewhat.
On the other side, the Clippers are top 4 in the NBA in defensive rating at 107.9, and for a Toronto Raptors team that is missing so many players on offense, this is not good news. Zubac is a strong rim protector, they have Derrick Jones Jr. on the wing who can also defend, Terrance Mann and Kris Dunn who are known for their defense. All this to say, RJ Barrett will once again have to perform well in unideal conditions, and somehow find his way to the rim, which he has done consistently this season. Barrett’s playmaking has been strong this season as well and it will have to be strong again this game if Toronto has any chance at winning.
Gradey Dick finally faltered against the Kings in Toronto’s previous game after he was on a hot streak and scoring 20 points multiple times in a row. Hopefully Dick can get back on track tonight and use his cutting and shooting ability to shift Los Angeles’ defense around and in turn make things easier for his teammates. Ochai Agbaji will again have to step up as well and provide the strong tertiary scoring that he has provided all season long, and maybe even more.
With all the injuries that Toronto is facing this season, a lot of these games are going to be uphill climbs, but for the most part Toronto has been battling in games that you would never think they could hang around in. Toronto will have to show grit and tenacity again tonight if they hope to pick up that third win of the season.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 10:30 p.m. ET
Television: SN
Radio: SN1
Starting Lineups (Projected)
Los Angeles Clippers
PG: James Harden
SG: Norman Powell
SF: Derrick Jones Jr.
PF: Terrance Mann
C: Ivica Zubac
Toronto Raptors
PG: Davion Mitchell
SG: Gradey Dick
SF: Broken Black
PF: RJ Barrett
C: Jakob Poeltl
Injury Report (Not official)
Clippers
Kawhi Leonard(Knee) – Out
Mo Bamba(Knee) – Questionable
Raptors
Scottie Barnes (Orbital) – Out
Immanuel Quickley (Pelvis) – Questionable
Kelly Olynyk (Back) – Out
Bruce Brown Jr. (Knee) – Out
