LOS ANGELES — Kyle Lowry was in a funk right along with his Toronto Raptors. He had a combined 15 points in his last five games while the team had lost three of four.
Adding to their woes, leading scorer Kawhi Leonard was out with a bruised right hip against the surprising Clippers.
“It was just time for me to step up and play,” Lowry said.
Serge Ibaka had 25 points and nine rebounds, Lowry added 21 points while making four of the Raptors’ 14 3-pointers, and Toronto cruised past Los Angeles 123-99 on Tuesday night.
“We didn’t slow it down,” Lowry said.
Toronto shot 52 percent from the floor, had 34 assists and outscored the Clippers 28-4 in fast-break points.
“This was a game everybody thought would be very difficult for us to win,” coach Nick Nurse said, “but we kind of lined up all these things and were very focused.”
Fred VanVleet kept the ball moving in place of Leonard with a career-high 14 assists.
“Whether Kawhi played or not, I think he was going to have a healthy game,” VanVleet said of Lowry. “When he’s playing like that, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
The Clippers endured their biggest loss of the season against the NBA’s best team (22-7).
“From the start you could see the Raptors pushing the pace at us the entire game,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said, “and we really never caught up to it.”
With leading scorer Tobias Harris held to 10 points — he averages 21.4 — the Clippers were led by a pair of reserves.
Boban Marjanovic had 18 points and Tyrone Wallace added 15. Their fourth loss in six games dropped them into a tie for second with the Lakers at 17-10 in the Pacific Division.
“We just gave in to their offensive pressure,” Rivers said.
The Raptors extended their lead in the third quarter, using an early 10-0 run followed by five consecutive 3-pointers to go into the fourth ahead 103-74. Lowry hit three of the 3s and Delon Wright had two.
“When he let go he knew it was going in,” Nurse said of Lowry.
Ibaka had back-to-back monster dunks before the 3-point onslaught began, drawing cheers on Canada Night at Staples Center.
Both teams played their reserves in the fourth, but the Clippers were too far behind to make a serious dent.
SPURS 111, SUNS 86
SAN ANTONIO — Bryn Forbes had a season-high 24 points and a career-best 11 rebounds to lead San Antonio.
San Antonio has won three straight halfway through a six-game homestand.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points in 25 minutes. He sat out the fourth quarter with San Antonio leading by as many as 25 points.
Phoenix, which was without leading scorer Devin Booker for the fifth straight game, never led while falling to 4-24.
T.J. Warren led the Suns with 23 points and De’Anthony Melton added 17. Rookie DeAndre Ayton was the only other Phoenix player in double figures, scoring 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
DeMar DeRozan was held to a season-low five points, but the 6-foot-7 guard attempted just six shots as he set up his teammates.
ROCKETS 111,
TRAIL BLAZERS 103
HOUSTON — James Harden had 29 points and seven Rockets scored in double-figures as Houston used a big second-half run and snapped a three-game losing streak.
Chris Paul added a triple double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Clint Capela added 13 points and seven rebounds before fouling out with five minutes left, and Eric Gordon, who started in place of James Ennis, had 14 points for the Rockets, who shot 49 percent from the field.
Houston’s bench played a key role in a 24-6 first-half run that erased a 15-point deficit, and then led a charge in the second half. Gerald Green had 13 points, and Danuel House had 12 off the bench.
Damian Lillard had 34 points, CJ McCollum scored 22 points and Jusuf Nurkic added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Portland, which shot 44 percent after starting the game by making seven of its first nine shots.
