PG is healthier now, and he seems to be focusing on holding on the ball and less TO’s.

T. Mann is being super aggressive — this T. Mann, we didn’t see during the John Wall experiments.

Kawhi is healthier — may be continue to be!

Morris playing 24-25 min — yes, that needs to go down.

EJ and Plumlee — big pickups, indeed.

This is the best win in a long, long time.

One of my friends texted me — good thing that the Clippers got Russ (instead of FVF).

Defense was the best this team has played in months. It had the feel and tenacity of last year’s team. Very few uncontested shots in the midrange to the painted area.

Gave up some open 3s but got better at close outs as the game went on.

Defensive rebounding and clearances for the first 45 minutes were excellent.

Offense was trash for most of Q1. Defense kept them in it + Kawhi’s dunkathon. Russ was awful in his first stint, but then Ty Lue did something I didn’t expect. He subbed him for Gordon and later Mann got into the action. That sort of stabilized things. Then Lue put Russ back in but on the floor with Mann, Batum, Gordon and Plumee and things started to click. Having both speedsters on the floor really helped move Toronto’s defense to get better shot angles and attempts.

In the 3rd quarter, Russ and Kawhi teamed up well. On a few possessions Kawhi got the ball above the 3 pt line at the top of the key, drew 2 defenders, Russ went into the space right behind them like a WR finding a pocket in the zone, Kawhi threw it to Russ at the foul line area and he was able to make some very good decisions with the ball to get the offense going. Clips outscored the Raptors by 17 across the 2nd and 3rd quarter because they sped the game up. PG started to find his drive and his range and added to the scoring.

Then a funny thing happened. Russ was subbed out at the 5 min mark in Q3 and never returned to the game. Morris was subbed out at the 4 min mark of Q3 and never returned to the game.

It became the T-Mann/E Gordon show with PG, Kawhi and mostly Zu/Batum. It worked.

The last 3 mins were a bit rough for the Clippers, with PG making a bad turnover up +12 to let Toronto back in the game, and allowing 3 offensive rebounds to enable Toronto to narrow the margin, but they did play a solid final minute to close the game. I couldn’t believe that this was actually Ty Lue coaching the team.

We only made 6 3 pointers and took only 20 3 pt shots. Everything was about pounding the paint. Zu, Kawhi, PG, T-Mann got to the rim, the FT line and scored against a tenacious interior defense. Terance Mann was electric tonight. His pace and energy at both ends were great, as well as his handle and ability to run the offense. I thought the Clips needed a bit more outside/3pt shooting to open things up, but they stayed committed, and opened things up by speeding up the game and getting to the rim behind Westbrook in Q3 and Mann for most of the 2nd half. Again, I couldn’t believe this was Ty Lue’s team.

Eric Gordon was also fun to watch. He’s a battering ram on offense, can stretch the D with the timely 3 and can’t be moved in the post very easily on defense.

This team playing in this matter with relentless and also creative attacking of the rim can win the West.

The next 2 games are the toughest remaining on the schedule, imho: NY and GSW. We have to win both. The GSW game is an absolute must win to get a tiebreak advantage