Clippers at Raptors
The Los Angeles Clippers and Toronto Raptors enter Friday’s game in Toronto with identical 33-17 records and both are coming off painful losses. The Clippers' defeat will be a fresher in their minds and legs after they were blown out early Thursday night against the red-hot Cleveland Cavaliers. The Raptors lost their second straight game to an inferior opponent Wednesday, falling by 16 points to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Clippers also have lost two straight after blowing a nine-point lead with about 90 seconds left Monday in Brooklyn and will likely be without starting shooting guard J.J. Redick again as he tries to get his bothersome back spasms under control. If there was any good news out of the loss to Cleveland, it's Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers pulled his starters with just under five minutes left in the third quarter, limiting their minutes heading into the second half of the back-to-back games. The Raptors already own a win against the Clippers this season, beating them 110-98 on Dec. 27 to end Los Angeles' eight-game home-winning streak.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN West (Los Angeles), Sportsnet One (Toronto)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (33-17): Los Angeles has replaced Redick in the starting lineup with Jamal Crawford, which fills the scoring void among the starters but leaves the bench extremely frail. The reserves got a good workout against the Cavaliers because of the blowout nature of the game. This is where the Clippers are hoping Austin Rivers can step up as a scorer, and he scored eight of his 10 in garbage time against Cleveland. Look for newly acquired Dahntay Jones to begin stealing minutes from Rivers if the coach's son continues to struggle in the expanded role.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (33-17): Kyle Lowry is off to a tough start in February as he’s 6-for-20 from the floor in the two games with 15 total points. He likely will be fired up for his matchup with Los Angeles point guard Chris Paul, however, and he scored 25 points with seven assists in the earlier meeting with the Clippers this season. Lowry is looking to recapture his late-December/early-January stretch when he scored at least 22 points in six straight games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Toronto is trying to sweep the season series against the Clippers for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
2. The Raptors' 33 wins through 50 games is their most in franchise history.
3. Toronto has played an NBA-leading six overtime games this season.