INGLEWOOD. Toronto center Jakob Poeltl missed a put-back attempt as time expired and the Los Angeles Lakers escaped with a narrow, 105-103, victory over the visiting Raptors on Saturday night (Sunday AM Manila time) at the Intuit Dome.
James Harden and Norman Powell each had 24 points while Ivica Zubac and Kevin Porter Jr. combined for 29 points and 18 boards to lift the Clippers to their four consecutive win after an awful 0-4 start in te spanking new, multi-billion-dollar Intuit Dome.
Still without their leader, multiple All-Star Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles marshalled the troops and shot an impressive 38.6 percent from three (10-of-26) and 46.1 percent overall (35-of-75). They also out-rebounded Toronto, 47-44, and forced the Raptors to hit only 42.1 percent of their shots (40-of-95).
It was a bitter-sweet triumph for the Clippers as coach Ty Lue announced prior to tip-off that Leonard will not be joining the team’s upcoming three-game road trip.
“He felt good. He looked good. The swelling went down. It was just a setback. It was unfortunate,” Lue told reporters.
Ochai Agbaji and Immanuel Quickley finished with 21 points each for the Raptors, while Chris Boucher and RJ Barrett combined for 27 points, Despite their best efforts, the Raptors dropped three straight and seven of their last eight.
The Clippers visit the Thunder on Monday night ( Tuesday morning in Manila) while the Raptors stay in LA to face the Lakers on Sunday (Moday AM Manila time).
