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Kyle Lowry leads Raptors to preseason win over Clippers in Vancouver

Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry runs back to defend after scoring against the Los Angeles Clippers during the first half of a pre-season NBA basketball game in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday October 4, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER – A slimmed-down Kyle Lowry led the Toronto Raptors to a 94-73 preseason win over the Los Angeles Clippers at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena.

Wearing the team’s new uniforms, Lowry had 26 points, shooting seven-for-10 from the field and 11-for-12 from the free throw line.

The Raptors, who went with a starting lineup of Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, Patrick Patterson and Jonas Valanciunas, managed to finish the first half with a 40-34 lead despite shooting just 35 per cent from the field.

The Raptors struggled at times on offence, but showed some tenacity on the defensive end, outrebounding the Clippers 48-33.

READ MORE: Raptors sign Canadian former No. 1 overall draft pick Anthony Bennett

Clippers forward Blake Griffin finished the game with 14 points, which included an impressive put-back off a Chris Paul miss in the third quarter. But Griffin’s best highlight occurred before the opening buzzer when one of his warm-up dunks knocked the shot clock off the top of the backboard.

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@blakegriffin32 took down 24 sec clock on first warm up dunk 😅😂

A photo posted by Rico Uno (@ricouno) on Oct 4, 2015 at 4:11pm PDT

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J.J. Redick was the Clippers’ leading scorer, finishing with 15 points.

Canadian Cory Joseph, playing his first game in a Raptors uniform, had four points, two steals and an assist in 19 minutes.

Fellow Canadian Anthony Bennett, the former No. 1 overall draft pick who recently signed with the team, missed the game with a shoulder injury.

Former Raptor Muggsy Bogues sat courtside with ex-Vancouver Grizzlies point guard Mike Bibby, who was visiting the city for the first time since the team relocated to Memphis in 2001.

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