Clippers edge past Raptors in last second thriller

INGLEWOOD — Coach Tyronn Lue looked at Norman Powell as the game tipped off and knew the 30-year-old guard was tired. Powell had been averaging 34 minutes in 10 games this season.

But Lue had to look away, especially in the waning minutes of Saturday’s game against the Toronto Raptors. They needed this game, so against his better judgment, the coach kept Powell and James Harden on the floor in crunch time.

And it worked out.

Powell scored 24 points, including two of four free throws in the waning seconds, and Harden made one of two foul shots to pull out a 105-103 victory at Intuit Dome. It was their fourth consecutive victory on the second night of a back-to-back.

“I know a few of our guys were tired, but this is when you have to fight through mentally,” Lue said. “I know Norm was tired from the jump and what he’s been doing for us offensively, but we needed every minute he could give us tonight. I know he was tired and (Ivica) Zubac was a little tired but we had to win this game.”

Like many of their games this season, it came down to the final minute after the Clippers (6-4) let a double-digit lead disappear. They have led by double digits in all 10 games this season.

The Raptors did all they could to send the Clippers on their three-game road trip with another loss. After Immanuel Quickley hit a tying 3-pointer with 39 seconds left, Powell and Harden missed their free throws, giving Toronto an opportunity. But Quickley and RJ Barrett both missed tough short shots under defensive pressure by Terance Mann before Jakob Poeltl missed a putback attempt with 4.1 seconds left.

“We’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. But today it was a winnable game,” Lue said. “We were up, and we had to finish the game out and guys had to play a little more minutes than you like on a back-to-back. We needed the win.”

Powell played 35 minutes, Harden finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 34 minutes, while Zubac had 14 points and 12 rebounds in 38 minutes.

Zubac said he was feeling OK after the game. “I wish I could play 48 but I know that’s impossible,” he said.

Yet, despite all the good things, there’s still the matter of turnovers. A lot of turnovers. The Clippers are committing 17.6 a game.

Yet somehow, the Clippers have managed to overcome their miscues to win a handful of games. Saturday wasn’t any different. The Clippers limited their turnovers to 14 but still blew a significant lead.

“The biggest thing that I keep telling our team is that we have to run through the game,” Lue said. “Even though we’re up 10, we need to get stops for four minutes, push it. First see if we can get a layup and then if not, we can bring it out and try to run.”

“We haven’t been doing that — to go from 10 to 12 points ahead before they get set. Because once they get locked in defensively, the game gets slow and you try to run the clock out and you end up taking a bad shot. So just continue to run through the game and get stops and take care of the basketball.”

The Clippers led, 87-75, with 9:10 remaining in the game. The Raptors slowly cut the lead to 93-91 on a 6-0 run with 4:08 left. But down the stretch, it was the Clippers’ defense that clinched the victory.

The team will be looking to carry this momentum into next week’s three-game trip to Oklahoma City and Houston (two games). Whether they can or not, the Clippers will have to do it without Kawhi Leonard watching from the bench.

Lue said before the game the two-time Finals MVP will not travel with the team. Leonard has been ruled out indefinitely because of continued inflammation in his right knee.

The Clippers led for much of the first half, allowing the Raptors a brief two-point advantage in the first quarter. They grabbed the lead back and led, 28-22, at the end of the opening quarter.

In the third quarter, the Clippers stretched their lead to 14 (45-31) on four consecutive 3-pointers, two by Kevin Porter Jr., sandwiched between one by Nico Batum and one by Amir Coffey. But like so many other games this season, the Clippers couldn’t shut down their opponent and they were left holding a slim 52-47 halftime lead.

“Defensively, we’ve done a good job of maintaining throughout the course of the game,” Lue said. “We just turned the basketball over.”

The Raptors have been hit with injuries to their core players, such as Scottie Barnes, Kelly Olynk, Bruce Brown and Ja’Kobe Walter, leading to seven losses in their past nine games.

Quickley returned to the court after an eight-game absence because of a pelvic injury he suffered in Toronto’s season opener and finished with 21 points and three rebounds.

Barrett, who has been averaging a career-high 25.7 points and 7.0 assists, was limited to 13 points, while Gradey Dick, a second-year player, finished with 15 points.