Clippers at Raptors, game-day Dino-bytes

Our game-day update for Friday’s Clippers-Raptors tilt.

 

L.A. CLIPPERS (34-13) vs. TORONTO (16-30)

Air Canada Centre

TIPOFF: 7 p.m.

TV: TSN; RADIO: FAN590

WEB: Barring any unforeseen circumstances (and I’m hoping against them), we’ll be here for the usual in-game blog shortly before 7 p.m.

 

Probable starters

Los Angeles: Eric Bledsoe, Willie Green, Caron Butler, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan; Toronto: Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Alan Anderson, Amir Johnson, Aaron Gray.

 

Key backups tonight

Los Angeles: Jamal Crawford (leading candidate for sixth man award), Grant Hill (veteran has lots of game left); Toronto: John Lucas III (coming off solid Atlanta game), Landry Fields (need defence off the bench).

 

Season series

Clippers lead, 1-0.

The Raptors were drilled 102-83 in Los Angeles as part of the dreadful 0-fer trip out west in early December. On the good news side of things, Toronto is 11-5 at home all-time vs. the Clips and has won three straight.

 

What happened this morning?

Who might play?

It’ll depend on a lot of other factors on whether Rudy Gay, who is in town, gets to dress tonight; everyone else involved in the transaction has to report to his new team and pass a physical (the Raptors have waived that provision for Hamed Haddadi so that’s not a factor) before anyone can either practice or play.

But the fact Gay didn’t even make it to watch shootaround would make it appear he’ll be a spectator tonight.

But the two injured big men – Jonas Valanciunas and Andrea Bargnani – are far closer to getting back into uniform.

“I don’t know,” is what Dwane Casey said post-shootaround about the possibility of one or both getting back into action Friday night.

“We’ll see come game time.”

Total guess: Valanciunas is ready to go.

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Wildly entertaining but probably meaningless stat, No. 1

Toronto has led after the first quarter of seven straight games.

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The men in charge

Marc Davis, Brian Forte and Mark Lindsay will officiate the festivities.

They’re already sorry.

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Of the Clippers

From the cyber pages of the Los Angeles Times, we learn that less doesn’t necessarily mean less for Caron Butler.

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The numbers game

Rudy Gay will wear uniform No. 22 for Toronto. And he joins an illustrious group.

Other 22s?

John Salley (memorable), Sean Marks (now an executive in San Antonio), Dion Glover (who knows where he might be) and – ta-da! – Alvin Wiilliams, who I recall wore No. 22 for the quarter of the season when he first arrived so Toronto could hold a firesale on No. 20 Damon Stoudamire jerseys.

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Wildly entertaining but probably meaningless stat, No. 2

In 15 January games, the Raptors averaged exactly 100.0 points per game, their best offensive month of the season.

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More on the Clippers

They won’t have Chris Paul tonight (he’s got a bone bruise on his right knee) but Dwane Casey was singing the praises of backup Eric Bledsoe this morning.

And rightfully so.

Bledsoe comes in off a great game Wednesday in Minnesota when he had 10 points, 10 assists and six steals. Only three other Clippers have put up those numbers in a game in the past 20 years: Chris Paul, Pooh Richardson and Ron Harper.

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Comments

[Chris]

Finally! Finally someone says what needs to be said about Ray Lewis.

[Colin K]

"The men in charge

Marc Davis, Brian Forte and Mark Lindsay will officiate the festivities.

They’re already sorry."

HAHAHAHA. That made my day. Thank you Doug.

[Josh]

Are the Raptors keeping or waiving Haddadi?

Blogger's note: Probably keep him as an asset for a while but he will never play here.

[Peter]

Pooh Richardson eh? That's as bad as Boobie Gibson!

[john]

Doug, 'They're already sorry'

That is awsome....

[SR]

LMAO @ "They're already sorry". Classic!

[David H]

Since they are already sorry, have the Raptors already contacted the league office with video awaiting the next apology?

[J]

Loved the "They're already sorry."

Flight 31, meet Flight 22:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjEHXJIXFto

Nothing to do with the merits of the trade, but it's hard to deny Gay can be downright nasty! Anyone else love that with just one play, Gay dismantled Miami's entire Big 3?

[Hope Caper]

Great comment on the refs Doug, couldn't agree more. The Raps are owed another apology after the last game especially since Casey paid highly for it.

I will watch the game tonight in hopes that I am wrong and this feeling of impending disaster is just innate pessimism.

Perhaps a new concession product might be generated. They could call it BC's Gay Kool-Aid.

In case some feel this is some sort of homosexual slur I come from a generation where gay is still part of the English language and can still be used as such. I claim that right.

Good luck Raps.

[LeeZ]

"Laughed out loud" is usually as exaggerated as it is ubiquitous, but I have to say, your "they're already sorry" caused me to do just that. And speaking of mea culpas, I heard secondhand (and via the twitterverse at that, so it MUST be true) that the league has decided that no apology will be forthcoming. Have you heard the same, and if so, were any reasons given?

[LeeZ]

I made this suggestion already, but I'll make it again. Please have your chipheads restore the link to the main Star sports homepage that used to be located at the top of your blog page. Please and thank you.

[GM]

Even though it feels like it sometimes, I don't believe there's any anti-Canada bias in officiating. I watch enough non-Raptor games to know it's more like an anti-inferior team bias. In those games where I have no rooting interest, I'm still flabbergasted at how one-way the officiating can be for the haves over the have-nots. For a have-not to beat a have, they have to be about 10 points better on a given night. I see Dallas claims they've been jobbed the last two games and no doubt Carlisle and Cuban will be dinged for their comments. At some point, the league will just have to do something about this. And has anyone ever challenged the legality of the fines?

[Tabber]

Watch out, Hope, you'll probably get flamed for that. Right, Lee?

[J]

+1 to what GM said.

I spent the first half of my life in Canada, and the second half in the US, and while there are will always be ignorant types in the US, there are some who are equally ignorant in Canada. I am appalled at the constant inferiority complex; if there is ever a reason for someone to view Canada as a second-rate nation, it's that awful mentality.

Outside of players choosing where to spend half of each year in, nobody (whose opinion matters) cares that the Raptors are a Canadian team. If the Raptors even come up in a sports discussion here, the negativity expressed is due to the Raptors being a bad team, not because the team represents a Canadian city.