What a great weekend for basketball here in Vancouver with the visiting Raptors and LA Clippers going head to head in a preseason game.
Rogers Arena was sold out, fans were excited, jerseys everywhere, popcorn/drinks flowing and 2 teams and 20,000 fans focusing on one little basketball. Game on.
Vancouver fans tussle for a ball in the sold out NBA preseason game at the sold out Rogers Arena.
Starting for the Raptors side – DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas, DeMarre Carroll and Patrick Patterson. Terrence Ross was the crowd favorite coming off the bench and Terrance Ross brings a strong presence and energy to the floor when he’s on the court. 6’-9” forward Bismack Biyombo looks like a strong rim protector. NBA enthusiasts, remember this name “Norman Powell.” Rookie Norman Powell is the kid to watch and keep a close eye on.
The Clippers starting line up was – Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Johnson and JJ Redick. Former Boston Celtic Paul Pierce came off the bench and sustained boos every time he touched the ball. The Veteran Luis Scola was very crafty off the bench with great passing, good hands, steals and he shot the ball very well.
I initially thought the Clippers would walk away with this one, but instead the Raptors were ahead most of the game. Watching from the press end zone table, the game seemed like the Clippers were winning. Maybe it’s because of their star power, but every time I looked a the scoreboard the Raptors were ahead. When both teams had first strings playing against each other the Raptors still took it 24 to 16 in the first quarter.
Clippers forward Cole Aldrich goes up for a rebound.
Preseason games are the type of games where the bench gets more minutes on the court. The coaches want to see what they can do. The Raptors showed that they have a strong bench with a lot of unknown names, but they still pulled ahead and stayed 20 points ahead by the end of the game.
Let’s see how these two team do against each other when the season really starts.
LA Clippers sing the national anthem before taking on Canada’s only NBA team, the Toronto Raptors.
