Raptors drop nail-biter to the Clippers

For a brief moment, it looked like Immanuel Quickley could be the hero in his return.  

With 43 seconds remaining he made an Iverson cut, received a screen from Bruno Fernando, caught in motion, turned, and stuck a 3 — tying the game at 102.  

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Being fooled endless times, well that’s just sports fandom. Once again, the Raptors came oh so close, losing 105-103 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday at the new Intuit Dome.  

Let’s recap how the final seconds of this thriller unfolded.  

After the game-tying Quickley 3, Ochai Agbaji was called for a reach on Norman Powell, setting the free throw game in motion. Powell split the pair. Off the ensuing inbound Quickley raced down the floor and straight to the rim, but couldn’t get it to go. Now free throws for James Harden. Again, a miss and a make; a pattern is developing. The next trip down, the Raptors put the ball in RJ Barrett’s hands. He churned, he got there, but again, a miss at the rim. More free throws for Powell, yet another split, the pattern continues.  

Down 105-102, the Raptors took a timeout to advance the ball with seven seconds left. Then came a questionable late-game decision. They inbounded the ball to Jakob Pöltl, who went to handoff to Quickley lifting from the corner. The problem; Harden and Derrick Jones Jr. rushed to foul Pöltl, sending one of the Raptors worst free throw shooters to the line. He made a valiant effort, making the first, and then nearly getting the put-back to go after intentionally missing the second, but once again the Raptors fell just short.  

This story is becoming all too familiar, and the Raptors’ results this season can be defined by their inability to execute in “clutch time” scenarios. Toronto is now 1-3 in games decided by one possession, 0-2 in games decided by two possessions, and have had a fourth quarter lead in five of their last nine games, but have only won two.  

While there is always more nuance to something as complicated as NBA basketball, they are simply a young team that doesn’t know how to close games. 

Their lack of an elite isolation scorer that can take over in those situations is also certainly a factor.  

While Quickley may not be that, he is an elite shooter and we got promising glimpses during his 26 minutes of what he will bring to the team now that he’s back. 

Pulling up for 3 off a handoff from Pöltl, a deep pull-up from the top of the floor in transition, and couple nice floaters were all good to see after his extended absence. Maybe more important, the space that both he and Gradey Dick created for each other above-the-break with their shooting gravity was noticeable. Quickley finished with 23 points, 4 assists, and shot 3-of-8 from deep.  

Dick came out gangbusters, leading all players with 12 first half points. After a blip against the Sacramento Kings, he was back to attacking close outs with force, driving into baseline fadeaways, and canning some sweet 3s. He did go cold in the second half however.  

Agbaji on the other hand, was scalding hot all game. He tied Quickley’s team high 21 and made some impressive shots including a fading jumper from the short-corner and a smooth floater in the lane. Consider his strong finishing at the rim, corner 3s, and solid defence and you could argue that he was the best player on the floor for the Raptors in this game.  

Now on to one of the worst Raptors on Saturday. In the battle of European bigs, Ivica Zubac easily outplayed Pöltl on the way to a 14-point 10-rebound double-double. Pöltl, usually a steadying force, had an uncharacteristically shaky night. The Austrian-born seven-footer missed multiple shots in close and had some head-scratching turnovers. At the start of the second half, he grabbed a rebound and started out in transition before passing the ball directly back to Zubac! 

I would also be remiss not to mention the great stretch Fernando had in the fourth quarter coming in to replace Pöltl. After drawing the ire of the Raptors fanbase with some poor play to start the season, Fernando made an about-face and really impressed here. First, Quickley and Dick ran split action, resulting in a wide-open cut to the basket for the point guard, and Fernando found him for the easy lay. Next, he blocked Jones Jr. And sent a quick hit-ahead to Agbaji for a transition score. The emphatic finish to the Fernando show? Receiving a pass from Quickley on the roll and throwing down a powerful left-handed slam. 

He did rack up an exorbitant number of fouls (5) in his eight minutes, but that can be forgiven considering the other stuff. Pöltl’s poor play forced Darko Rajakovic’s hand here, and the move actually worked out.  

Harden and Powell’s splitting of free throws to finish the game left them with a game-high 24 points apiece. The ex-raptor has been on his best run since his final days in Toronto, averaging 25.5 points on 66.8 percent true shooting. He has also been shooting the leather off the ball from distance. 

If you understand the grind, then you’ll agree that it’s been nice to see Powell on this heater.  

The post Raptors drop nail-biter to the Clippers first appeared on Raptors Republic.