Maggette (35) picks up slack

TORONTO -- Even more short-handed than usual, the Clippers still had enough to hold off the Toronto Raptors.

Corey Maggette matched his season-high with 35 points and went five for five from three-point range, Cuttino Mobley had 19 and the Clippers beat the Raptors, 102-98, on Friday night.

Playing without suspended point guard Sam Cassell, the Clippers lost forward Tim Thomas to a sore back after the opening 12 minutes.

“We’ve had a revolving door with our injuries, one to the next,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We’ve got guys stepping in and playing hard. Every night it’s been close. We’re in games. It’s just a matter of having enough gas to finish someone off.”

Cassell was suspended one game without pay by the league for committing a flagrant foul on Boston’s Rajon Rondo on Wednesday night.

“Usually we lose games like that but we weathered the storm and came out with a win,” Maggette said.

Al Thornton had 19 points and Chris Kaman had 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who had lost 10 of their previous 11 road games.

“We executed the way we wanted to defensively and we came out with a win,” Kaman said.

The Clippers, who came in having lost six of eight overall, improved to 6-19 when Maggette scores 20 or more.

“Corey had it going early,” Dunleavy said. “We tried to ride that horse and he kept us consistent.”

Thornton scored nine in the fourth quarter while being defended by Raptors All-Star forward Chris Bosh.

“He’s like our Energizer Bunny,” Maggette said of Thornton. “When he comes in in the fourth quarter, he really takes over the game.”

Bosh finished with 29 points and 12 rebounds but fouled out with 12 seconds left as Toronto lost back-to-back home games for the first time since Jan. 6.

“We just did not play good defense tonight,” Bosh said. “Plain and simple, we can’t win many games not playing good defense.”

Toronto Coach Sam Mitchell said his team may have underestimated the Clippers, who are last in the Pacific at 16-31.

“They deserved to win and we didn’t deserve to win,” Mitchell said. “We’re not good enough to just look at a team’s record and show up and play.”

Jamario Moon’s jumper gave Toronto a 68-56 lead at 7:33 of the third, but the Clippers got back into the game with an 11-2 run over the next three minutes. A three-pointer by Maggette with 22 seconds left in the third gave the Clippers a 78-77 lead heading into the final quarter.

“That shot was a big shot,” Maggette said.

Thomas left after the first quarter because of a sore back, the same injury that kept him out of Wednesday’s loss at Boston.

Thomas, who finished with three points, said his status for tonight’s game at Philadelphia is in doubt.

Toronto guard T.J. Ford got a loud ovation when he entered the game at the start of the second quarter, his first home appearance since a Dec. 11 injury at Atlanta. Ford returned to the lineup Feb. 4 at Miami after a 24-game absence.

--

TONIGHT

at Philadelphia, 4:30 PST

Site -- Wachovia Center.

Radio -- 710 (No TV).

Records -- Clippers 16-31, 76ers 20-30.

Record vs. 76ers (2006-07) -- 2-0.

Update -- Andre Iguodala averages a team-best 19.4 points for the 76ers, who have won two straight games.