Clippers don’t have final cut

The Clippers cut an 18-point deficit to nine, only to see it go back up to 16, before they’d carve that to seven. But when it came time for that final push to steal a road victory against a hot-shooting opponent, they couldn’t get over the hump.

Allowing more points than they have in any game this season, the Clippers fell, 122-110, on Sunday to the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre, done in by lax defense and the inability to hit the crucial shot at the key moment.

“They answered every time we made a run back at them and cut it to single digits and gave ourselves a chance,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “They made a big shot back at us or we made a mistake of some kind and it never got us back to where we put enough pressure on them where they could feel the heat.”

The Clippers, 1-1 on an Eastern trip that continues Tuesday against the New York Knicks, couldn’t sustain their defense -- or their offensive rebounding -- against a Toronto team that has now won five straight at home.

Included in the 122 Raptors points were 36 from beyond the three-point arc, including three three-pointers in the final two minutes by Morris Peterson that sealed Toronto’s victory.

Tim Thomas, who saw that kind of outside accuracy with the Phoenix Suns last season, gave all the credit to Toronto.

“We got close a couple of times but with the three-ball -- I was on the opposite side of it last year -- it’s an effective thing,” he said. “They just kept knocking down shots, you have to tip your hat to them.

“We came out a little slow, tried to get back in the game but could never get over the hump.”

Slow might be an understatement. Their earliest start time of the season -- noon in the East, 9 a.m. back home -- seemed to befuddle the Clippers, who allowed Toronto to shoot 70% in the first half and take a 12-point lead.

By the time the Clippers (24-23) got the sleep out of their eyes and their legs under them, the Raptors (25-23) had built a comfortable enough margin to withstand the inevitable run.

“We let one get away from us,” said Sam Cassell, who had 17 points and eight assists. “Everything we did to try and stop them, they did better.”

That included taking Elton Brand out of the game for most of the second half. Brand had 15 points and seven rebounds in the first half -- five of the boards on the offensive end, where the Clippers had 13 as a team -- but finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

“We only gave up one offensive rebound in the second half and we felt like if we could keep them to below 40 points in the paint, we’d have a chance to win the game,” Toronto Coach Sam Mitchell said. “They only had 28. Even though they made jump shots, we felt like we did a lot of things we wanted to do.”

The Raptors also frustrated Chris Kaman into a wretched shooting game. Kaman missed 10 of 11 shots and finished with two points and seven boards in 20 minutes.

“I thought he played a good game, actually,” Dunleavy said. “He was one for 11 but all his shots were good shots. If he keeps getting those shots, they’re going to go. We want him to be confident, keep shooting the ball -- if he gets the looks he got today.

“It was just a bad-luck day and it kind of compounds it if you haven’t been playing well.”

Chris Bosh had 27 points to lead six Raptors in double figures. Cuttino Mobley had 24 to lead the Clippers.