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The Toronto Raptors are feeling pretty good after a 125-118 comeback victory against the Los Angeles Clippers inside the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
Despite trailing by as much as 16 points throughout the contest and 13 points in the fourth quarter, the Raptors made a strong push that led to them ending the game on top. Here's a look at three takeaways from the matchup.
The Raptors struggled a bit out of the gate in this one, as it was the second night of a back-to-back. The Clippers wanted to blitz them out of the gate, and they were able to accomplish that.
The Raptors struggled to get into a rhythm offensively with a new starting lineup that was down two starters: Kawhi Leonard and Jakob Poeltl. Slowly, as the game moved into the later stages, they found their footing.
The Raptors would hope to have a better start in games moving forward, so it will be a point of emphasis in their next game.
With Poeltl on the sidelines due to a shoulder injury, the Raptors relied on Collin Murray-Boyles to be the team's small-ball center. Murray-Boyles lost some weight over the offseason, which makes it a bit difficult for the Raptors to come up with very many lineups with him as the center. That said, he took on that role and did his best with it.
Scottie Barnes also was defending the rim at times during the evening, and that was a massive difference for the Raptors. The fact that they saw some success with Murray-Boyles as the center could mean that the Raptors turn to this lineup more often down the line.
After losing two straight games, this is a massive victory for the Raptors on the road. This could have easily been a loss that would have put the team under .500 despite their 2-0 start. Getting a win in this one, despite trailing by double digits going into the fourth quarter, is going to give this team some momentum going into the latter half of their road trip.
The Raptors return to the court on Wednesday when they take on Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET inside Ball Arena. Fans can watch the game on TSN or stream it on the TSN Plus app.
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