The Los Angeles Clippers spent nearly 44 minutes looking like a team ready to end a five-game losing streak Monday night at the Intuit Dome.
Then the final four minutes happened.
“I love our fight. Forty-two minutes of good basketball and six minutes we have to work on,” Coach Tyronn Lue said.
L.A. led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter before the Toronto Raptors erased the deficit and rallied for a 125-118 victory.
Monday night’s matchup was supposed to mark Kawhi Leonard’s return to the Intuit Dome as a Raptor, but a left knee injury kept the former Clipper from traveling with his new/old team.
Turnovers, one of the Clippers’ biggest problems in the early season, resurfaced when the game tightened.
The Clips committed just eight turnovers through the first three quarters, then coughed up the ball six times in the fourth period alone.
Four of those errors belonged to point guard Darius Garland, who now leads the NBA with 38 turnovers through seven games.
“Me turning the ball over,” Garland said candidly in response to a question about how the Clippers let the lead slip away in the fourth quarter.
Toronto took its first lead of the game with just 2:08 remaining on a Scottie Barnes turnaround jumper, part of a spirited 12-1 run.
Barnes scored 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, and later hit two free throws to help seal the victory. He added 15 rebounds and 8 assists. Barnes was helped by guard Immanuel Quickley, who hit 10 of 11 free throws en route to 27 points, and forward RJ Barrett with 26.
The Clippers have not won since opening night on Oct. 21.
The loss overshadowed a career night from second-year guard Kobe Sanders, who finished with a career-high 26 points. All five Clipper starters scored in double figures.
But balance was not enough to prevent a sixth consecutive defeat.
Lue, who was questionable to take his spot on the bench because of an illness, coached despite missing his pregame news conference.
The Clippers continue their homestand Wednesday against the Miami Heat at 7:30 p.m.