This wasn't the easy Sunday stroll the Raptors expected

Looking at the stats, the Raptors should have won.

But a lack of effort and a horrible third quarter cost the Eastern Conference leaders a win Sunday against a middle-of-the-pack L.A. Clippers team.

The home team came out hot and took the 35-28 lead after the first 12 minutes. At the half, the score was 60-53 for the Raptors (keeping the lead despite lazy play), and by midway through the third quarter the Clippers had taken the lead 73-69. It was ugly. Very ugly.

Jonas Valanciunas and Fred VanVleet led the scoring for the Raptors, finishing the game with 16 each. Pascal Siakam was third in scoring with 15 points. Serge Ibaka finished with 12.

DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry (the birthday boy whose alma mater Villanova secured a spot in March Madness Final Four today) barely cracked double digits. In fact, in the first half DeRozan and Ibaka combined for 1-of-11 from the field (remember, I said it was ugly).

And that should say it all.

The Raps didn’t come to play on Sunday night against the Clippers, who currently hold down the tenth spot in the Western Conference.

But looking at the numbers, it still should have been theirs. They shot just two percent less than the Clippers from the field (tying from beyond the arch and hitting double the number of 3-pointers), they had more rebounds, more assists, and more blocks.

However Tobias Harris, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell could do whatever they wanted on the floor and finished with 65 points combined (and some nice highlights).

The Raptors were able to tie it up at the end of the sloppy third quarter, but were outscored 37-26 in the final frame.

Nevertheless, the Raptors are still 30-7 at home and continue to hold the top spot in the East by 3.5 games.

Toronto’s next game is Tuesday night at home against the Denver Nuggets.

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