Rudy Gay played his first game with the Raptors on Friday, after being the main piece in a three-team trade that sent him out of Memphis due to the team’s finances more than anything else.
Gay came off the bench in his Toronto debut, and finished with a team-high 20 points in 33 minutes as his team put together a complete dismantling of the Clippers.
The three-pointer over Grant Hill to end the third was my favorite of his shots on the night, but there were plenty of highlights to choose from. Gay scored inside and out, and shot 8-of-16 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point distance.
The Clippers were without Chris Paul due to injury, and Matt Barnes due to his serving a one-game suspension. But even with those guys missing, the game shouldn’t have been this lopsided. Thanks to the spark that Gay provided, however, the Raptors seemed unusually energized by their recent acquisition -- at least for a single night.
