Serge Ibaka Ngobila

Amid a six-game winning streak, the Clippers will be missing Paul George (rest) and Serge Ibaka (back tightness) for Wednesday's game against the lowly Detroit Pistons.

Kawhi Leonard (sore foot) and Patrick Beverley (hand) will also continue to sit out as their injuries heal.

Clippers star Leonard has missed the last two games, while Beverley has been absent for three consecutive outings.

Despite their injury woes, the Clippers (38-18) enter the game with the longest active winning streak in the league. 

George, who is continuing to work his way back from a toe injury, contributed 36 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in Tuesday's victory over the Indiana Pacers. 

The NBA season is set to resume on July 30 after the 2019-20 campaign was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March.

Orlando's Disney World complex will host 22 teams, with the Los Angeles Lakers headlining the league's comeback against rivals the Los Angeles Clippers on July 30 after the New Orleans Pelicans face the Utah Jazz on the same day.

Defending champions the Raptors – second in the Eastern Conference and trailing the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks (53-12) with a 46-18 record – will restart their season against the Lakers on August 1.

Raptors star Ibaka said his team-mates are ready to return, telling reporters via a conference call on Saturday: "I saw just how everyone is in great shape. 

"They came here in great shape and as soon as we got here everyone was starting to put in work.

"I've been in the league for 11 years. You can see when people's locked in and they are ready mentally, and when they are not.

"So I can tell you right now, mentally, everybody is ready. Everybody is ready."

Ibaka, who helped the Raptors win their first championship last season, added: "It's been a little bit weird [this season] with everything that's going on. But one thing we know is that it's over.

"Whatever happened last season is over, and we've got to try to put our mindset so that it's ready to go for this one.

"We know it's going to be hard, it's going to be a challenge, and everyone is going to come for us because we are the champs, so we have to be ready."

Meanwhile, the 30-year-old center admitted he is worried about the rising number of coronavirus cases in Florida.

"Honestly it's really concerning," he said. "Hopefully everybody has to follow the rules, every player, when we get in the bubble in Orlando, we can respect all the notes that they're going to give us.

"But I have my daughter who lives here in Orlando, and it's kind of scary a little bit. It's something where you have to make sure you look at it."

Donte DiVincenzo is among the players heading to the Kings, while the Clippers receive Rodney Hood and Semi Ojeleye from Milwaukee.

Bagley, who was the second overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 13.5 points and 7.4 rebounds with the Kings having faced numerous injuries and struggled to fully establish himself in Sacramento.

Ibaka will join the Bucks as the NBA champions add someone with Finals experience from his time at the Toronto Raptors and Oklahoma City Thunder. The 32-year-old averages 6.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 35 games this season.

The Bucks also receive two future second-round draft picks as well as cash considerations.

Sacramento, who only added Domantas Sabonis in a trade with Indiana on Tuesday, procured DiVincenzo from Milwaukee, as well as Josh Jackson and Trey Lyles from Detroit.

DiVincenzo has an average of 7.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists in his 17 games so far this season, while Lyles is currently enjoying a career-best average of 10.4 points this year.

Hood and Ojeleye bolster the Clippers' depth having only featured from the bench this season for Milwaukee.

A collision with Ibaka during the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets last week resulted in Leonard requiring eight stitches for a mouth laceration.

The four-time All-Star sat out two games, including the Clippers' heaviest defeat in their history when they went down by 51 points to the Dallas Mavericks, before returning in Wednesday's 128-105 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Wearing an unusual face mask did not seem to hamper Leonard too much as he had a game-high 28 points with seven assists, three steals and one block at Staples Center.

The protective gear has resulted in his team-mates referring to him by the name of the villain from 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' film series, but Leonard – a self-proclaimed "fun guy" known for his reserved personality – warned Ibaka not to take part in the teasing too much after injuring the franchise star.

"They started calling me Leatherface and stuff," said Leonard, continuing with a deadpan delivery.

"But Serge can't talk too much, we've got him on the trading block right now. So whoever wants him, let us know. We're trying to trade Serge."

Leonard said it was difficult to breathe in the mask and explained that the location of his injury was the reason for the odd aesthetics of the mask.

"Just where the injury is, it's a little difficult. Some guys have cheek fractures or they break their nose, and mine is really like trying to protect the stitches from getting hit and ripped, so it's a different scenario. You're trying to protect the lips and my jaw and my cheek," said Leonard.

"It's hard to do and that's what I'm saying it's kind of hard to breathe, because you can't really expose my mouth so much, you have to bring it [the mask] out and put a hole in.

"But there's a whole process to it. We're still trying to work on something better but it worked out pretty well tonight. I might have to get a mouthpiece or something."

Six of Leonard's seven assists came through the first two periods, tying his career high for assists in either half of a game.

The Clippers had 30 assists in total against the Trail Blazers, making it the first time since December 2014 that they have hit that mark in back-to-back games.

Ibaka had missed the previous seven games, but with the Clippers already 2-0 down in their series to the Utah Jazz, his campaign is now over.

The 31-year-old's first season with the Clippers has been hampered by back problems and he missed 30 straight games during the regular season, though the team confirmed the surgery, which took place on Thursday, was a success.

"There is nothing I would love more than being on the court helping my brothers and trying to win a championship," Ibaka posted on his official Instagram account.

"It's been a very tough season, I worked very hard to be back in time for the playoffs but sometimes injuries get in the way and health has to be a priority.

"I appreciate all the love and support from everyone and now I have my mindset on supporting my team and getting healthy and ready for next season."

Across 41 regular season games in 2020-21, Ibaka averaged 11.1 points, 1.8 assists and 6.7 rebounds.

The Clippers face the Jazz in Game 3 of the best-of-seven series on Saturday.

Simmons has refused to play for the Sixers this season after coach Doc Rivers and center Joel Embiid were critical of his performances in the Eastern Conference semifinals loss to the Atlanta Hawks last season. 

Philadelphia had been trying to trade the fifth-year guard/forward ever since, but the former Rookie of the Year's value plummeted after he came up short against the Hawks. 

However, according to multiple reports a deal was finally struck to send Simmons to Brooklyn in exchange for the 2018 NBA MVP Harden. Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, an unprotected 2022 first-round pick and a protected 2027 first-round pick were also sent to the Nets, with Paul Millsap going in the opposite direction. 

Harden can become a free agent in the offseason, while Simmons is under contract until 2025 after signing a five-year, $177.2million deal in 2019.

While the 76ers seemingly boosted their chances of contending by adding Harden, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors remained idle. However, there were still plenty of other deals reported on Thursday.

Mavericks move on from Porzingis

The Luka Doncic-Kristaps Porzingis era is over in Dallas.

The Mavs sent Porzingis and a second-round pick to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.

Injuries have continued to trouble the 7ft 3in center, who averaged 20 points and 8.8 rebounds per game in two and a half seasons in Dallas.

Kings trade Bagley, Bucks get Ibaka 

The Sacramento Kings made Marvin Bagley III the second overall pick in the 2018 draft but brought an end to his time in California as part of a seven-player, four-team trade. 

Bagley was sent to the Detroit Pistons, with Josh Jackson and Trey Lyles going to Sacramento. The Kings also received Donte DiVincenzo from the Milwaukee Bucks, who swapped Serge Ibaka for Semi Ojeleye and Rodney Hood. The reigning NBA champions also received two future second-round picks and cash considerations. 

Bagley has started just 17 games for Sacramento this season, averaging 9.3 points and 7.2 rebounds in 21.9 minutes per game.

Celtics bring Theis back, send Schroder to Houston

Daniel Theis is back for a second spell with the Boston Celtics.

Less than a year after he was traded to the Chicago Bulls by the Celtics, Theis was brought back from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Dennis Schroder, Enes Freedom and Bruno Fernando. Freedom is expected to be waived by the Rockets, though.

Boston also sent Bol Bol and PJ Dozier, who are both out for the season, to the Orlando Magic and offloaded Josh Richardson and Romeo Langford to the San Antonio Spurs. The Celtics' brought in Derrick White.

Elsewhere...

Goran Dragic's time with the Toronto Raptors is up after he was traded to the Spurs for Thaddeus Young, Drew Eubanks – whom they were set to waive – and a 2022 lottery-protected first-round pick. Dragic is expected to be bought out, with the Chicago Bulls, Mavs, Bucks, Warriors, Nets and Clippers all credited with an interest.

The Charlotte Hornets added Montrezl Harrel from the Wizards. Ish Smith and Vernon Carey Jr went the other way. 

Torrey Craig is back with the Phoenix Suns following a deal that saw Jalen Smith land with the Indiana Pacers. Aaron Holiday was also acquired from the Wizards.

The Raptors rallied from 19 points down to beat the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday and extend their run to 12 victories in a row.

Serge Ibaka – who scored the go-ahead three-pointer with 30 seconds left – and Kyle Lowry led the comeback as Toronto scored the final 11 points of the game in a 119-118 win.

Nurse described the Pacers' defense as "awesome" as he credited his own players for their fighting spirit.

"I guess that, and we've said this before during this win streak, we haven't played great all the time, but we keep finding a way and that's a heck of a characteristic to have," said Nurse.

"Tonight, we weren't very good, and they were very good, I give them credit. They were awesome. They were cutting and flying and moving and hustling and guarding and physical and all the things you can be. They were trying to knock us out and we wouldn't quite go away, and luckily we hung in there and pulled one off."

Ibaka credited Nurse for a timely pep talk after he struggled in the early stages, with the Raptors managing just 18 points in the second quarter.

"Nick told me in a timeout, 'Serge, keep shooting with confidence, just push the ball'. He gave me a lot of confidence," said Ibaka.

"We keep our composure during the game. We've been there before, even in playoffs, so we have that mindset of 'never give up'. We keep trusting each other and we don't point fingers. When things go bad, we stay together, and I think that's what makes us very special."

Could the defending champions do it again, even without superstar Kawhi Leonard following his switch to the Los Angeles Clippers?

The Raptors were tipped to slide in 2019-20, but with Nick Nurse leading the way, Toronto (53-19) defied the odds as they finished second behind the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference.

Still boasting championship winners Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka and benefiting from the emergence of Norman Powell, OG Anunoby and Chris Boucher, the Raptors reached the Conference semi-finals before losing to the Boston Celtics in seven games inside the Orlando bubble amid the coronavirus pandemic.

With the season done and dusted, there are now doubts over whether VanVleet, Gasol and Ibaka will return as they enter free agency.

Nurse experienced similar at the end of 2018-19 after Leonard and Danny Green departed for the Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers respectively via free agency.

As the Raptors look ahead to 2020-21, we review the team's 2019-20 season using Stats Perform data.

Nurse no one-season wonder

The 53-year-old has not missed a beat since his appointment ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, delivering a maiden NBA title in his first season in Toronto.

Nurse has overseen 134 victories, including playoff wins, for an overall 134-55 record in two seasons as Raptors head coach.

Only Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr (171 from 2014 to 2016), former Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson (141 between 1989 and 1991) and ex-Phoenix Suns coach Paul Westphal (137 in 1992 to 1994) managed more victories from their opening two campaigns in the league.

Nurse's work has not gone unnoticed. The Canada head coach was named the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year, while he signed a "multi-year" contract extension with the Raptors last month.

Siakam and VanVleet emerge

Two of Toronto's biggest stars have experienced significant improvements.

Both forward Siakam and guard VanVleet were both averaging under 5.0 points per game as recently as 2016-17. Now, Siakam is averaging 22.9 points per game (+18.7), while VanVleet's scoring average is up to 17.6 (+14.7).

No players in the NBA have had a bigger scoring increase since then, with New Orleans Pelicans star Brandon Ingram (23.8ppg from 9.4ppg – +14.5), Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics (20.3ppg from 6.6ppg – +13.7) and Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie (20.6ppg from 7.3ppg – +13.3) coming closest.

Raptors lack bite and roar

For all of their success, the Raptors still do not really have a dominant scorer or rebounder, especially since Leonard's exit.

In this season's playoffs, Toronto's leading scorer was VanVleet at 19.6 points per game, and their leading rebounder was veteran Ibaka at 7.7 rebounds per game.

Since rebounds were first tracked in 1950-51, there has never been a team to win the NBA championship while having no players average 20.0-plus points per game and no players average 8.0-plus rebounds per game in the postseason.

When it comes to Siakam, while he has grown, there are still teething issues, especially with his three-point shooting.

Taking more attempts from beyond the arc, Siakam was decent in the regular season but the 26-year-old did not shoot the three well in the playoffs. His three-point percentage (18.9 per cent) in the postseason was the second worst of all time (minimum 50 attempts), only behind Lindsey Hunter (15.1) in 2000-01.

If you look at the three-point percentages for Raptors players in the 2020 postseason, you can see that the guys who shot the ball the most had some of the lowest percentages, while some others shot the ball well but did not get as many shots.

Ibaka shot 51.1 per cent, better than Powell (42.3), Terence Davis (42.1), Matt Thomas (41.7), Anunoby (41.5), Boucher (40.0), Stanley Johnson (40.0), VanVleet (39.1), Lowry (31.9), Siakam (18.9) and Gasol (18.5).

The Raptors will need Siakam to improve with his three-point shot or else the team might want to attempt to re-distribute their three-point shots more toward the players who are better shooters from deep.