In front of another sold out crowd at the Air Canada Centre on 'Raptors Fan Appreciation Night', to watch the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers, the fans in attendance witnessed a historic scoring effort from Terrence Ross. There wasn't much defense in this game, as it quickly turned into a track meet. The Raptors led the game 37-36 after the first quarter, but the Clippers outpaced the Raptors and came away with a 126-118 win.
Toronto Raptors' Terrence Ross, the 2013 NBA Sprite Slam Dunk Champion, stepped up in a major way! The 2nd year rising star was hitting everything that left his hand. He had 23 points at half time, including a LONG three at the buzzer to close the 2nd quarter. The break at half time didn't slow him down, has he scored another 28 points in the second half. Terrence was lights out, no matter where he took his shots from! He finished the game with 51 points (16-29 from the field, including 10-17 from 3-point range, 9-10 from the free throw line) and 9 rebounds.
With the 51 points, Ross tied the Raptors' franchise single game scoring record with 51 points – originally set by Vince Carter. T-Ross had a chance to make it 52 set the new record, but he missed afree throw in the final seconds of the game. Ironically, it was his only free throw miss of the night.
'Lob City' was in full effect for the Clippers in this game. Starting Western Conference All-Star, Blake Griffin, showed exactly why he's an All-Star. He scored 30 points (10-18 from the floor, and 10-13 from the free throw line) and grabbed 5 rebounds. Jamal Crawford was on fire for the Clippers, leading the team with points AND assists. Jamal scored 37 points (12-23 from the field, including 5-11 from 3-point range, and 8-8 from the free throw line) and dished out 11 assists. For a long stretch of the game it was the 'Terrence & Jamal Show', as each player seemed to be trading big shot after big shot.
JJ Redick, Matt Barnes, and Darren Collison were also key contributors for the Clippers in this game, combining for 7 of 9 from 3-point range, and a total of 41 points between the three players.
Kyle Lowry & Jonas Valanciunas both had solid outings and posted double-doubles. 17 points and 12 rebounds for Valanciunas, and 11 points and 12 assists for Lowry.
DeMar DeRozan was having a solid night before he badly sprained his left ankle, as he came down on Hedo Turkoglu's ankle after a jumpshot. DeMar stayed in the game until half time, but did not return. According to Rogers Sportsnet's Eric Smith, the x-rays came back negative. So, DeMar and the Toronto Raptors seem to have dodged a bullet. After the game DeMar stated that he didn't return to the game as a precautionary measure. The Raptors play on Monday vs. the Broolyn Nets, so we'll have to wait and see if he's ready to go for the game or decides to give his ankle another day or 2 to recover.
Patrick Patterson was another victim to injury in the game, having received an inadvertent elbow to the nose from Blake Griffin. He left the game as the blood did not seem to stop, and appears that he suffered a broken nose.
The Toronto Raptors travel to Brookyln to face their Atlantic Division foes, the Brooklyn Nets, for a Monday night match up.
Postgame Interviews:
Terrence Ross
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
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Kyle Lowry
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
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Dwane Casey
http://youtube.com/watch?v=
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(Photo Credit: Ron Turenne/NBAE/Getty Images)
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