LOS ANGELES (AP) Serge Ibaka had 25 points and nine rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors cruised past the Los Angeles Clippers 123-99 on Tuesday night without injured Kawhi Leonard.
Kyle Lowry added 21 points, making four of the Raptors’ 14 3-pointers.
Leonard sat out with a bruised right hip that he hurt against Milwaukee last Sunday. Toronto’s leading scorer with 26.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game is day-to-day.
The Clippers endured their biggest loss of the season against the NBA’s best team (22-7).
Toronto shot 52 percent from the floor, had 34 assists and outscored the Clippers 28-4 in fast-break points.
Fred VanVleet had a career-high 14 assists starting in place of Leonard.
With leading scorer Tobias Harris held to 10 points – about half his 21.4 average – the Clippers were led by a pair of reserves.
Boban Marjanovic had 18 points and Tyrone Wallace added 15. Their fourth loss in six games dropped them into a tie for second with the Lakers at 17-10 in the Pacific Division.
The Raptors extended their lead in the third quarter, using an early 10-0 run followed by five consecutive 3-pointers to go into the fourth ahead 103-74. Lowry hit three of the 3s and Delon Wright had two.
Ibaka had back-to-back monster dunks before the 3-point onslaught began, drawing cheers on Canada Night at Staples Center.
Both teams played their reserves in the fourth, but the Clippers were too far behind to make a serious dent.
TIP-INS
Raptors: Nick Nurse plans to coach at Golden State on Wednesday before returning to Carroll, Iowa, where his 94-year-old mother died Monday. … They improved to 6-0 vs the West. … After their current four-game trip, the Raptors won’t travel beyond the Central Time Zone for the rest of the season. … Wright got stitches above his right eye. … G Norman Powell missed his 18th straight game with a left shoulder injury.
Clippers: G Lou Williams sat out with a sore left hamstring that he sustained on Monday at Phoenix. … With the team trailing by 29, longtime fan Billy Crystal had seen enough and departed before the fourth quarter began. … They lost at home for just the third time in 12 games. … They’ve lost four of six overall. … They were beaten at home by the Raptors for the first time since Nov. 22, 2015.
UP NEXT
Raptors: At Golden State on Wednesday in the second game of a back-to-back. They are 5-0 on the second night this season.
Clippers: At San Antonio on Thursday. They beat the Spurs by five points last month.
