Harden had 22pts, gets triple double as the LA Clippers All-Star line up out skills the Toronto Raptors for the victory, 127-107.
TORONTO- Friday, January 26, 2024.- Scotiabank Arena.
Yet anther hot ticket in town, the return of Kawhi Leonard to Toronto. This time my ticket is behind the basketball net and to my right is the LA Clippers bench. A very warm ovation for Kawhi Leonard from the Toronto crowd as he was introduced in the starting line ups. Quite the opposite when James Harden name was mentioned, the crowed boooed him.
Toronto Raptors Starters: Scottie Barnes: 23pts, RJ Barrett: 22pts, Gary Trent Jr: 13pts, T Young: 12pts, & B Brown: 9pts. BENCH Points: D Schroder: 13pts, C Boucher: 9pts.
LA Clippers Starters: James Harden: 22pts, Paul George: 21pts, Kawhi Leonard: 16pts, M Plume: 12pts & T Mann 6pts. BENCH Points: R Westbrook: 20pts, N Powell: 17pts.
1st Quarter- The game starts raptors win the possession and T Young makes a 6ft hook shot to open the scoring for the Toronto Raptors. James Harden pics up the ball the Toronto crowd booo him heavily and with his lazy toe drag dribble walk, like he just got out of bed moves the ball up the court and decides to go for one of his famous step back 3 pointers and misses, the crowd cheers. Game goes back in forth each team making baskets with the odd miss here and there. When Kawhi Leonard touches the ball he is warmly cheered and when he hit his 13ft floating jump shot, the Toronto crowd warmly cheers for him and only him. Paul George makes his shots and half way through the quarter is replaced by Russell Westbrook. Westbrook at 45 years old still plays the game like he is in early to mid twenties. Pedal to the metal, full tilt, high octane player. Sprinting up the court dribble making moves and cuts trying to score or create scoring opportunities for his teammates. The quarter ends Raptors down by 9pts.
2nd Quarter- Clippers made more 3pointers than the Raptors 1, as Dennis Schroder, Grady Dick and Gary Trent Jr final contribute points in the second quarter. The majority of raptors points so far come in the second quarter and inside the paint. The half ends, Clippers lead by 14pts.
3rd Quarter- Barnes and Barrett try to make a comeback for the raptors to keep it close but there no match for the season veterans of the LA Clippers who hit their shots.
4th Quarter– The Clippers pull away with it increasing the the lead as their starters and bench out scored the Raptors starts and their bench. Toronto’s Three point % was 18 while LA Clippers was 28 %. It’s a miss or make league. The broken record continues to play the same beat, skipping over and over for the Raptors. They don’t have enough players with the skill set to go the distance against a more seasoned All-Star and future Hall of Fame veterans team. No Brass Rail hangover this time for James Harden, as he leads his team with 22pts and got his 75 career triple double of his career. LA Clippers win 127-107 Raptors.
The Good:The return of Kawhi Leonard & Norman Powell,
The Bad: Anther Raptors loss.
The Ugly: Ticket price.
For more information on the Toronto Raptors Basket Club visit: https://www.nba.com/raptors/
Thank you to: ESPN
