Clippers-Raptors Preview

By JEFF MEZYDLO
Posted Feb 01 2013 3:38PM

Despite a hefty contract, the Toronto Raptors hope the addition of Rudy Gay will help them turn around their season and make a serious push for the playoffs.

Gay will debut with his new team Friday night when the Raptors look to avoid a fourth straight loss while trying to continue their recent home success against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Toronto (16-30) acquired Gay and little-used center Hamed Haddadi on Wednesday for veteran guard Jose Calderon, forward Ed Davis and a 2013 second-round draft pick. The Grizzlies then sent Calderon to Detroit for forwards Tayshaun Prince and Austin Daye.

"Players like this don't come along that often in terms of their availability," Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo said. "This was a very unique circumstance. We feel like we took advantage of it.

In his seventh season, Gay averaged a team-leading 17.2 points - his lowest in the last six - while shooting a career-low 40.8 percent and 5.9 rebounds for Memphis. Teamed with good friend Kyle Lowry to form a talented backcourt in Toronto, Colangelo believes Gay could be the piece needed to propel the club into playoff position.

A loser in eight of 10, Toronto is 11th in Eastern Conference and 6 1/2 games out of the final playoff spot.

"This is the type of deal we have been looking for to take our team another step forward," Colangelo said. "Rudy Gay is a dynamic wing that elevates our talent level significantly."

The trade was a money-saving move for Memphis - Gay brings to Toronto a five-year, $82 million contract he signed in July 2010. He's due $16.5 million this season and $37 million over the next two.

Calderon, who broke in with the Raptors in 2005, averaged 11.1 points and a team-leading 7.4 assists. Davis, the 13th overall pick in 2010, has averaged a career-high 9.7 points while pulling down 6.7 rebounds.

"We want to thank Jose and Ed for their dedication and service to our organization," Colangelo said. "Both individuals are wonderful young men beyond just talented basketball players."

The addition of Gay could also present Toronto coach Dwane Casey with a quandary on the wing where Gay, DeMar DeRozan, Alan Anderson, Landry Fields and Terrence Ross are all the same type of player. DeRozan scored 23 while Anderson added 15 and Lowry totaled 14, 10 rebounds and five assists in Wednesday's 93-92 loss at Atlanta.

Averaging 20.3 points in the last four contests, the southern California native DeRozan scored 24 in a 102-83 loss at Los Angeles on Dec. 9. The Raptors have averaged 88.0 points and shot 37.9 percent while losing three straight to the Clippers (34-13) - all at the Staples Center.

Los Angeles, however, hopes to avoid a fourth consecutive defeat in Toronto. After losing their previous two by a combined 46 points, the Clippers were more competitive during a 98-93 loss at the Air Canada Centre on Feb. 13, 2011.

Looking for a third consecutive victory after dropping four straight, the Clippers snapped a three-game road slide with a 96-90 win at Minnesota on Wednesday. Blake Griffin had 26 points with 13 rebounds while DeAndre Jordan added 16 with 12 boards and Eric Bledsoe had 10, a season-high 10 assists and six steals to open a season-high eight-game trip on a positive note.

"We go into every road trip with the goal to win them all," Griffin told the Clippers' official website. "And you can't win them all without winning the first one."

Griffin has averaged 23.7 points and 9.7 rebounds in the last six games. Picking up the slack while Chris Paul remains out with a bruised kneecap, Griffin averaged 6.8 assists in the previous five before being held without one Wednesday.

He's averaging 20.0 points, 12.3 boards and 3.5 assists in four career games versus Toronto.

Along with Paul being out, the Clippers also won't have Matt Barnes on Friday. The league suspended Barnes one game for striking Minnesota's Greg Stiemsma in the neck in the second quarter Wednesday.

Gay has 20 in debut, Raptors rout Clippers 98-73

By IAN HARRISON
Posted Feb 01 2013 11:34PM

TORONTO (AP) The way Blake Griffin saw it, a sloppy effort by the Los Angeles Clippers only made things easier for Rudy Gay and the fired-up Raptors.

Gay wowed a sellout crowd by scoring 20 points in his Toronto debut, leading the Raptors to a 98-73 rout of the short-handed Clippers on Friday night.

"The way we played had a big effect on their flow," Griffin said. "Not to take anything away from them - they did a good job - but our defense was terrible."

The Clippers were pretty terrible on offense, too, setting season lows for points and field goal percentage (34.7). Los Angeles' previous low in points was 76 at Brooklyn on Nov. 23, while its previous low in field goal percentage was 36.6 on Jan. 19 in a home win over Washington.

"We didn't execute very well, we didn't shoot it very well," coach Vinny Del Negro said. "We struggled in a lot of areas."

Amir Johnson had 19 points and matched his career high with 16 rebounds for the Raptors. DeMar DeRozan also scored 19 as Toronto welcomed Gay with a winning effort two days after the high-scoring forward was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team trade that included Detroit.

"It felt great to be accepted like I (was) today," said Gay, who got a standing ovation before checking in for the first time. "It just makes you want to play hard."

John Lucas scored 17 and Aaron Gray had seven points and 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who handed the Clippers their fourth straight loss in Toronto and their largest defeat of the season.

"Our guys came in locked and loaded," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said.

Griffin had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Clippers, who were without point guard Chris Paul (bruised right kneecap) for the sixth straight game. Los Angeles forward Matt Barnes served a one-game suspension for striking Minnesota's Greg Stiemsma on Wednesday.

The absences forced the Clippers into some new-look lineups, but the juggling didn't help.

"Nothing worked very well tonight," Del Negro said. "I don't think any of the rotations or anything were very efficient."

Griffin said the Clippers could have benefited from Barnes' defense.

"He's a very big part of our team's success," Griffin said. "We definitely missed him, but we can't sit back on that."

Jamal Crawford scored 14 points, Caron Butler had 12 and Eric Bledsoe 10 for Los Angeles, which has dropped five of eight overall.

"We did a poor job of defending easy looks," Griffin said. "They hit some tough shots, but we did a poor job overall of stopping plays in transition or wide-open jump shots. We did a poor job on the defensive glass. Little things like that add up and you can't win a game like that."

Toronto traded Jose Calderon and Ed Davis for Gay, who came off the bench in his Raptors debut but wasted little time exciting his new fans. He scored seven points in the first quarter, when he was on the receiving end of two alley-oop passes from DeRozan, as the Raptors built a 22-17 advantage after one.

"Great teammates," Gay said. "They all helped me, they helped me get in the right spots and make sure I didn't look too bad out there."

Toronto led 29-28 with 4:20 left in the second before DeRozan scored nine points as the Raptors pulled away, closing the half on a 17-2 run to lead 46-30 at the break. The Clippers hurt themselves by making just three of 15 field goal attempts in the second quarter.

"As poor as we were in the first half offensively, we were right there," Clippers forward Grant Hill said. "In the last 4 minutes of the second it kind of got away from us. The next thing you know, we're down 16."

Gay's only basket in the third was a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave the Raptors a 72-45 edge heading into the fourth.

"I love Rudy's game," Griffin said. "He's going to be great for the Raptors."

NOTES: This was the second game of an eight-game road trip for the Clippers, who visit Boston on Sunday. ... Los Angeles had a season-low 25 field goals. ... Raptors C Jonas Valanciunas returned after missing 18 games with a broken right ring finger, but C Andrea Bargnani (right elbow) remains sidelined. Valanciunas went scoreless in 13 minutes. ... Kyle Lowry had eight of Toronto's 30 assists. ... The Raptors have led after the first quarter in eight straight games. They are 3-5 during that span. ... The sellout was Toronto's fifth of the season.

Notebook: Raptors 98, Clippers 73

Duane Watson, for NBA.com
Posted Fri Feb 01, 2013 11:30 PM - Updated Fri Feb 01, 2013 11:30 PM

THE FACTS: The Toronto Raptors (17-30) jumped out early on the Los Angeles Clippers (34-14) with a 16-point lead at halftime and extended it to as much as 31 points before beating them 98-73 at sold out Air Canada Centre on Friday night. The Raptors snapped a three-game losing streak with the debut of recently acquired Rudy Gay who came off the bench to score a game-high 20 points in his Raptor debut.

The Raptors challenged the Clippers defensively, and held the Clippers to .347 percent shooting from the field (25-72) and went on a 17-2 run into halftime up 46-30. Toronto closed out the third quarter in similar fashion on a 13-4 run, to give them a 27-point lead with the score 72-45. Despite the Clippers playing their best quarter scoring 28 in the fourth, the game was well out of reach.

For the Raptors, Amir Johnson had a double-double of 19 point and tied a career-high 16 rebounds, while DeMar DeRozan added 19 points and seven assists. John Lucas added 17 points off the bench on 5-for-7 shooting from the 3-point line.

The Clippers scored a season-low 73 points, and were led by Blake Griffin's 17 points and nine rebounds, Jamal Crawford added 14 points off the bench.

QUOTABLE: "It was just good to get a win, get out there and play basketball. It's been so many other things going on, this was my first time actually having to go through it. It just felt good."
-- Raptors forward Gay.

THE STAT: The Raptors shot well from the field (.469 percent) but shot just as potently from the three-point line at .462 percent on 12-for-26 shooting. Any point the Clippers challenged in the game, a Raptors three-point basket broke their momentum.

TURNING POINT: The Raptors outscored the Clippers 24-13 in the second quarter and ended the half on a 17-2 run. While still early, the Clippers were unable to put any semblance of a run together in the third quarter, ending the game right there.

QUOTABLE II: "He is one of the best in the league at getting his own shot. He frees up DeMar (DeRozan), Kyle (Lowry) and everyone else to get their own shot. Teams cannot just concentrate on DeMar (DeRozan), which will open him up.
-- Raptors coach Dwane Casey on Gay.

HOT: For the Raptors, Johnson shot 7-for-9 from the field, scored 19 points and pulled in 16 rebounds, matching a career-high and controlled the paint, limiting Griffin and Deandre Jordan.

NOT: The Clippers shot 20 percent from the field (3-15) in the second quarter and only scored 13 points. During that span the Raptors went on a 17-2 run to close the quarter giving them a 16-point lead into halftime.

BAD MOVE: With 3.9 seconds in the game left Jonas Valanciunas held the ball while the clock ran out, Caron Butler ripped the ball out of his hands and broke for half court. Valanciunas fouled him, which led to a clear path foul, giving the Clippers a free throw and ensuing possession and not a 25-point shot to tie the game.

NOTABLE: The 73 point output by the Clippers was a season-low. Gay played in his first game for the Raptors after being traded for Ed Davis and Jose Calderon on Wednesday. Raptors center Valanciunas returned to the line-up after missing 18 games with a fractured right hand. Chris Paul didn't suit up for the Clippers as he was still out with a fractured right kneecap. Matt Barnes was suspended by the league for one game earlier in the day for his flagrant foul on Wednesday and wasn't with the team.

UP NEXT: For the Raptors: Sunday vs. Miami, Wednesday vs. Boston and Friday @ Indiana. For the Clippers: Sunday @ Boston, Monday @ Washington and Wednesday @ Orlando.

• Clippers: Billups, Thompkins
• Raptors: Bargnani, Haddadi

• Clippers: --
• Raptors: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 3

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #45 Brian Forte, #29 Mark Lindsay
• Attendance: 19800
• Duration: 2:18