Break the Curse

Clippers (3-6) vs Toronto Raptors (4-4)

Gameday Haiku

Bargnani shooting,
Chris Bosh throwing down monstrous
dunks; oh me on my.

First Look

Raptors are starting its long west coast road trip tonight at Los Angeles.From what I have seen, the Raptors are the best 2nd tier team behind the East's big 3.  Their record does not reflect this, just 4-4, with some tough losses.  Without Eric Gordon, the Clippers are really in disarray at the wing positions.  Butler/Thornton combo is simply too weak against other NBA starting combos.  The Clippers catch a break today with the Raptors starting Demar DeRozan who is not of NBA starter quality yet.

• Clipper bigs will be lost.
  Bargnani is taking five 3s a game while making close to half of them. Bosh will also be shooting an array of midrange/outside jumpers. Kaman and Camby simply won't be able to defend them on the perimeter.  Hopefully Kaman will be able to muscle up Bargnani inside.
• Jose Calderon
  He is not having the kind of statistically driven season that we are used to seeing the past two years.  He has uncharacteristically missed a few free throws and is shooting far below career norm from the field.  His assists numbers are also down due to Hedo Turkoglu's influence.  Having Hedo means taking the ball out of Calderon's hand.  This has brought his average from nine assists per game to six.  He is reduced to spot up duty on many possessions.  Jarrett Jack signing the full mid-level exception with the Raptors also mean Calderon's playing time is reduced.
• Baron Davis
  For the Clippers to have any chance of winning, we need a big game from Bdiddy that we really haven't seen since his addition to the team. Davis has played fine so far and looked to be enjoying his job. Let's hope he can step up to night and be the star he once was.

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