Toronto Raptors: Takeaways from a manhandling by the LA Clippers

After Kawhi Leonard finally received his ring, the Toronto Raptors got smacked by the Los Angeles Clippers 112-92. What can we learn from the loss?

Yes, the Board Man finally got his ring and the fans cheered loudly and thankfully for how he helped the Toronto Raptors win a championship. Besides that, however, the teams also had to compete.

After Kyle Lowry delivered the ring to Kawhi Leonard, the game quickly turned into a regular-season basketball contest with bragging rights and the standings at stake. Additionally, the game would be the first time a full-strength Clippers squad took on the Toronto Raptors with Paul George starting. In the first meeting, the Clippers won 98-88 with both teams missing key pieces.

Things started off swimmingly for Toronto, specifically OG Anunoby. He continued to make his presence known both on offense and defense. Both teams battled and the Raptors took a 32-27 lead after the first quarter.

However, in the second, things started humming for the LA Clippers. Frustration started to build against the zebras as a couple of fouls and an inexplicable travel call led to a Nick Nurse technical. The Clippers used eight Raptor turnovers in the second quarter to their advantage and headed into the half with an 18-point lead, 64-46.

The Toronto Raptors social media team summed up the second quarter pretty well:

After the half, the Raptors needed to do everything in their power to crawl back into the game. Crawl back, they did. With several stellar plays from Norman Powell and a consistent attack on the rim, the Raptors clawed back to within five points with only a few minutes remaining in the frame. But the comeback would stop there, as the Clippers increased the lead back to 17 by the end of the third quarter.

During the fourth, Nick Nurse the bench. He was looking for a spark and unfortunately… none came. Nurse waived the white flag and the final score was 112-92.

The scoreboard looked worse than what the actual game. But with three losses in the past four games, there is at least some cause for concern. So what did we learn from this contest?