(photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty)
Here’s a compendium of recaps from last night’s win over the Toronto Raptors. Don’t worry, we’ll have our own “tweecap” (Twitter recap) up soon, as well as how Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob interrupted a (rare) post-game interview in the locker room with general manager Bob Myers, plus Ryan Brown has our obligatory piece on Jermaine O’Neal.
As we all know, things didn’t start out that well for the Warriors, as described by Rusty Simmons, and a little footnote about head coach Mark Jackson:
After their just-finished, four-game trip, Jackson’s youngest son returned to his home in Los Angeles with his dad’s house and car keys – leaving the coach stuck in a hotel for the team’s short layover until the team leaves for another three-game trip.
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The Warriors had their worst start of the season, failing to score at least 20 points in the opening frame for the first time and giving up a season-high-tying 36 points. They got beat up inside as Tyler Hansbrough had six of the Raptors’ 14 rebounds, and the Warriors’ entire roster combined for just five boards.
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Toronto closed the first quarter on a 22-5 run, including Lowry’s buzzer-beating three-pointer that made it 36-19 going into the second. Barnes tried to keep the Warriors close, scoring 14 second-quarter points, including a pair of free throws that trimmed the deficit to 48-39 with 3:47 remaining.
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But the Raptors responded with a 13-3 run. During the stretch, Steve Novak made three three-pointers in a 1:36 span, including one that extended Toronto’s lead to 61-42 with 1:24 left in the half.
Then came O’Neal’s epic halftime speech. Monte Poole interviewed him after the game:
So – with co-owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers together in another room, ready to punch walls – O’Neal shared his feelings with his teammates.
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“Jermaine did a lot of the talking,” coach Mark Jackson said, adding that he merely performed the group finish.
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“J. O. preached at halftime,” said Stephen Curry, who then shared the point of the sermon.
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“We had to show some resolve as a team,” he said. “We had some success last year, but that doesn’t mean anything this year. Teams are going to be gunning for us, so for us to have a first half like we did was very embarrassing and disappointing. To come back like we did, is a strong testament to where we’re headed as a team.”
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O’Neal, calling upon perspective gained through more than 17 years of NBA experience, challenged himself and his teammates to be the players and the team they wish to be. And, then, go out and prove it.
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“One of the realist speeches I ever heard,” Klay Thompson said. “And he said we’ll see what we’re made of in the second half. And we showed what we’re made of.”
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O’Neal’s speech didn’t take effect immediately; the Raptors opened the second half with a 10-0 run, pushing their lead to 83-58, with 5:40 left in the third quarter.
Sarah Todd, who incidentally is LGW’s favorite recap writer in that her recaps are more in detailed, chronological order, was also there:
“Terrible. Unacceptable. Ridiculous. We should be ashamed of the way that we played. If we’re going to be a good team we shouldn’t have moments where we’re ashamed and down damn near 30.” (O’Neal)
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Coach Jackson and most of the players were breathing a sigh of relief after the game, with smiles on their faces.
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But O’Neal stayed stoic telling SFBay that while they came out with the win, the team needs to remember how bad they were through most of the game:
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“This league has become a lot about what you are doing right, and not looking at what you’re doing wrong. If we don’t understand what we did wrong, we’re going to end up right back in that same position.”
By the way, O’Neal backed up his speech with his own play. Per Marcus Thompson:
It got ridiculous in the fourth quarter, as Golden State smashed on Toronto 42-15 over the last 12 minutes. The Warriors outrebounded the Raptors 14-1 in the fourth quarter, O’Neal had six of those boards. After the home team cut the lead to single digits, O’Neal kept it there with a clutch block on Amir Johnson’s putback at the 7:00 mark.
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O’Neal played all but the final 17 seconds of the fourth quarter. The Raptors managed just 5 of 16 shooting while he was on the court.
Here’s a couple of paragraphs from Carl Steward that could sum up the evening:
The Warriors transformed what would have been their worst, ugliest, flattest defeat of the season Tuesday into one of their most inspiring, scintillating comeback victories in many a year.
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Curry and Thompson, off the mark early — Curry even shot an air ball at one point — were brilliant in the fourth. They had just a combined 11 points at the half, with just one 3-point basket. But they found the range after intermission. Curry finished with 27 points and Thompson 22, and they combined for eight three-point baskets in the second half.
The usually analytical Adam Lauridsen summed it up this way:
The Warriors overcame a 27-point deficit by embracing who they are. They’re a team of shooters, so they kept hoisting up shots. They’re gifted with some of the best passers in the NBA at their respective positions, so they kept the ball moving. They are Stephen Curry’s team, so they handed the game over to him to see what he could make of it. They can be a defensive team with the right personnel on the floor, so Mark Jackson kept shuffling until he found the appropriate mix given Toronto’s blend of slashers, bangers and shooters (Green for Barnes; O’Neal for a surprisingly ineffective Bogut). They’re a smart team, so Jackson trusted them to make the right decisions once they sped up the game and got into the open court.
In his recap, Poole said it best:
For the better part of three quarters, the Warriors were comprehensively atrocious, blatantly inferior in every way. Then came the late third quarter and the incredible fourth.
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With Stephen Curry (game-high 27 points) leading the charge, the Warriors outscored the Raptors 48-15 over the final 14 minutes. They went from being outhustled, outshot and outrebounded to just plain out of their minds.
Tim Kawakami felt #Roaracle from press row:
To fall behind like the Warriors did and raise all the dreaded questions… to the frantic rally to take the game back… and the noise–THE NOISE–at Oracle throughout… well, that was something nobody who experienced it will forget for a long time.
In a separate post, Steward put it more eloquently:
Much to their collective credit, both the team and the crowd pulled it together in rousing fashion. The rally was a stupendous thing to watch, both on the court and in the stands. No overbearingly loud electronica required. No dudes springing off boards for somersault dunks needed. No pizzas. This was wild, wonderful NBA hoops without accoutrements, and as intense as it gets in early December.
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