INGLEWOOD — Kawhi Leonard’s advice to the young players and new Clippers was sound, if not prophetic.
“Just keep one foot in front of the other and just play and have fun,” the seven-time All-Star said, in all seriousness, two nights earlier. This coming from the league’s most stoic player whose moniker is “Fun Guy.”
The Clippers not only listened to what Leonard said, they understood the assignment on Wednesday night, putting together an entertaining show in beating the Toronto Raptors, 119-94, at the Intuit Dome.
The victory over one of the top six teams in the Eastern Conference gave the Clippers their third straight victory and pulled them within three games of the Phoenix Suns (40-33) for the No. 7 seed – the top spot in the Western Conference’s four-team Play-In tournament. At 37-36, the Clippers are currently in the No. 8 spot, a half-game ahead of ninth-place Portland and two games ahead of 10th-place Golden State with less than three weeks left in the regular season.
Perhaps no one had more fun on Wednesday than Darius Garland, who blew kisses after each of his five 3-pointers, converted a handful of circus shots and finished with 24 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go with six assists. After splitting two defenders to bury a 35-footer at the buzzer to end the third quarter for a 91-72 lead, Garland again kissed his fingers, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Leonard extended his 20-point streak to 49 straight games with 27 points on 9-of-19 shooting, welcoming hand slaps from teammates after hitting his second 3-pointer late in the game. He also had six rebounds and two assists.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 23 points with four rebounds and six assists, showing little rust after missing the previous four games because of toe issues. He shot 7 for 14 from the field and 8 for 11 from the free-throw line.
Brook Lopez got in on the fun, going 3 for 6 from 3-point range and finishing with 14 points, five rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals, while backup center Isaiah Jackson added 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting to go with five rebounds.
The Clippers shot 51.2% (42 for 82) from the field and 45.7% (16 for 35) from 3-point range and got 50 points from their reserves.
After beating the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, Leonard also took the opportunity to remind his team that “we’re not scared of nobody” even if the opponent is more talented or possesses a better record.
The Raptors (40-32) fell into sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind the sizzling Atlanta Hawks, and are just a half-game ahead of the seventh-place Philadelphia 76ers. Toronto came into the game having won four of its past six games and gave the Clippers a brief scare in the first half.
The Clippers built a 54-32 lead before the intermission only to watch the Raptors slice into it with a 9-1 run in the second quarter that turned a comfortable game into an uneasy feeling. All too often this season, the Clippers have allowed opponents to get the upper hand and erase a double-digit lead.
This time, though, the Clippers responded quickly. Garland landed a 20-foot turnaround fadeaway jumper followed by a midrange jumper by Leonard to regain the momentum and help the Clippers take a 59-45 lead into halftime.
Leonard and Garland combined for nearly half of the Clippers’ points in the first 24 minutes, while Lopez scored 11 on 4-of-8 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
The Raptors struggled to find any rhythm on offense early on, finally settling into a groove during their modest run.
Brandon Ingram led the Raptors with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The Clippers shot 19 for 24 from the free-throw line and outscored Toronto there by 15 points.
Raptors center Jakob Poeltl was briefly forced out of the game after sustaining a cut near his left eye going up for a rebound early in the second quarter and finished with 10 points.
_More to come on this story._