Rudy Gay's Raps debut a bundle of laughs

Rudy Gay came off the bench for his Raps debut against the L.A. Clippers first half on a 19-3 run in the last 5 minutes of the half to break open a 27 all tie and the Raps took a 46-30 lead into the half. Rudy Gay who played 33 minutes and put up 20 points shooting 50% from the floor (8 for 16) showed Raps fans how he could a buzzer beater as he hit a three-ball as the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter and the Raps were just laughing into their huddle up 72-45. Gay played very well and him in the lineup boosted the energy of the Raps and the crowd as they won Gay's debut 98-73 and if it was not for a sneaky steal by Caron Butler as the Raps had Jonas Valanciunas holding the ball to run down the last few seconds of the game it would of been the Clippers lowest scoring output of the season at 71. Amar Johnson who was battling the flu almost had a double-double at half with 11 points and 8 boards and ended with 19 points and 16 boards in 38 minutes of playing time while DeMar DeRozan had 19 as well as the Raps had a very well balanced attack. Kyle Lowery had more assists than shots attempted 8 to 6 and ended up with 3 points while Lucas the third had more shots 9 and and made as many as Kyle attempted but I still think it is better to help than shoot. The Raps offensive was helped by 30 assists on 38 made field goals and shot just under 47% in the game but did take just less than a third of their shots from beyond the arc which still does not sit well with me even though they hit 12 of their 26 three attempts. What was awesome to watch was how they dominated the boards 45-37 with help from Arron Gray who took down 12 more tonight and the team played so tough D kept the Clips to 30.5% from the floor and they did not score more than 17 points going into the fourth quarter. .The Clippers put up 28 in the fourth and drove up their % to just under 35% for the game and Blake Griffen was as invisible as all the rest of the Clips but still got to the line 12 times and made 9 while ending with a team high in points with 17 and tied with DeAndre Jordan with 9 boards but the 19-3 to end the first half was their chance to mail the game in and they did. Sunday against the Heat will be much much tougher Tom Mehegan