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TORONTO — It was the Toronto Raptors' 1000th NBA game, and it was like so many others before it: shaky offence, porous defence and a loss, the 586th in franchise history against 414 wins.
The difference is this version of the team is supposed to win at home against struggling opponents, given the Raptors' playoff aspirations and all.
Instead, it was the lowly Los Angeles Clippers who could hold their heads high after their 102-98 win.
"We did not deserve to win," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said. "We did not do the things we have been doing, we didn't move the basketball as well as we have been and we didn't guard."
Toronto Raptors forward Rasho Nesterovic, left, tries to strip the ball away from Los Angeles Clippers forward Josh Powell Friday night in Toronto. The Clippers won 102-98. (REUTERS/ Mike Cassese)
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- Los Angeles Clippers
- Toronto Raptors
- Andrea Bargnani
- Chris Bosh
- Jose Calderon
- T.J. Ford
- Joey Graham
- Kris Humphries
- Jason Kapono
- Jamario Moon
- Shaquille O'Neal
- Anthony Parker
The Clippers used an 18-0 run late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to open up a 10-point bulge over the Raptors and then stood back and watched as unheralded rookie Al Thornton drove at Chris Bosh down the stretch to score the Clippers' final three field goals as the Raptors tried to rally.
"He's quick, I give him credit, he's a fast guy," Bosh said of the Clippers' rookie, who scored 19 points off the bench, nine in the fourth quarter. "I wish I could play it over again and I'd have done some things a little better, but he's quick, he's fast and he made plays."
Thornton gave the Raptors life, too, when Bosh fouled him on one more drive. Thornton missed both free throws with 31 seconds remaining, leaving the Raptors trailing by two, thanks to a triple by Andrea Bargnani and a basket and a free throw by Bosh in the final minute.
Jose Calderon took a wide-open jumper for the tie with 18 seconds left, and Maggette made all four of his free throws to finish off Toronto.
The Raptors were led by Bosh, who scored 29 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but Toronto shot just 41.9 per cent from the floor. Maggette led all scorers with 35 points, including shooting 5-for-5 from deep, as Los Angeles shot 52.9 per cent from the floor and 71-per-cent from the three-point line to 28.6 per cent by Toronto.
The Raptors could muster little in the way of excuses — it was just their second game in seven days — other than the realization that a team with a losing record in the ultratough Western Conference is not to be taken lightly.
"They just beat us," said Mitchell, whose team dropped to 26-22 and 14-10 at home. "We are not good enough to look at teams' records and show up and play."
Not only did the Clippers enter the game with a 15-31 record, but they were playing their fourth consecutive road game and, most important, they were without Sam Cassell, their starting point guard, who was serving a suspension for hitting Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo.
The hot rumour is that Cassell is headed to the Celtics — spread by no less an authority than Cassell, who later tried to claim he was misquoted in a Boston Globe story, even though the interview was recorded.
"Sam's crazy man, but in a good way," is Mitchell's take on Cassell, whom he knew when he was an assistant coach in Milwaukee.
Cassell is just one name being mentioned in a pretrade deadline arm's race that has emerged in the past week, with the Los Angeles Lakers adding Pau Gasol, the Phoenix Suns trading for Shaquille O'Neal and the Dallas Mavericks rumoured to be in hot pursuit of the New Jersey Nets' Jason Kidd.
The Raptors have shown little inclination toward getting into the game, given their aversion against long-term contracts and because the only expiring contracts they have to deal — Juan Dixon and Darrick Martin — aren't likely to deliver a major piece in return.
But games like Friday night's suggest the team is still vulnerable in two key areas. Once again, Toronto was bullied on the boards as Los Angeles outrebounded it 45-33. As well, the Raptors still have no answer for tough, fast, physical wing players in the mould of Maggette, who seemed unbothered — and occasionally unguarded — by Raptors rookie forward Jamario Moon.
"We told our guys, 'The guy who guards Maggette has one job — find him in transition and deny him the ball,' " Mitchell said. "It doesn't get any simpler than that."
