ROGERS ARENA, VANCOUVER, BC — The Golden State Warriors (0-0) were in Vancouver for their first preseason game against the Toronto Raptors (0-0). It was Kevin Durant’s first time putting on a Warriors uniform for a game.
1st Quarter – Boos for KD
The boos rained after the Warriors won the opening tip and got the ball to Durant, who took the first shot, a short miss from the right elbow.
But Jonas Valunciunas lost the ball on an attack versus Zaza Pachulia and Pachulia outlet to Draymond Green, who found Klay Thompson on the right arc for a pump-fake-launch three.
Klay missed on his next three-point attempt, but after Zaza stopped Valunciunas again inside, Thompson played great one-on-one defense on a left wing iso against DeMar DeRozan, and got rewarded as Stephen Curry dished to Klay for another three.
DeRozan came right back with a swish over Thompson on a pick-and-roll to stop the Raptors’ bleeding.
Durant couldn’t get a pick-and-roll with Pachulia to work and threw the ball off Zaza’s leg for a turnover, Jared Sullinger got past Pachulia for an offensive putback, then after Pachulia drew a charge on “JV”, Sullinger got to the line with a nice lob pass from DeRozan.
With 7:45 remaining, Sullinger evened the score at 6-6 from the charity stripe.
After the timeout, Pachulia lost the ball to Kyle Lowry, and DeRozan got the ball on the break, streaked downcourt, double-clutched on the left side of the board, but got swatted by Durant:
KD with the block on DeRozan! ? #NBACanadaSeries https://t.co/3g9XWsGl6B
— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 1, 2016
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But Durant then missed a three and Lowry raced back upcourt for a lefty drive past Curry.
David West subbed in for Pachulia and, on a side out, Durant fed Curry for a catch-and-shoot triple.
After a nice block out of Valunciunas by West on the defensive end, Steph was short on a three from the corner on a feed by West, but West tapped the ball out back to Curry, who then found Klay at the top for three more to give the Warriors a 14-11 lead.
Later, Shaun Livingston checked in for Thompson at the 5:16 mark, Andre Iguodala came in for Durant, and Ian Clark for Curry.
With 3:46 to play and West at the line, Durant returned for Green, and the Warriors’ second unit was officially in force: Livingston, Clark, Iguodala, Durant, and West.
Terrence Ross hit a jumper to even the game at 15-apiece with 2:47 to go, but Livingston came back with an inside bucket assisted by Iguodala, and-one, and at the next timeout, the Warriors led, 17-15, with 2:37 left.
Durant continued to clank as the designated scorer of the second unit, missing from the top and getting a late-shotclock drive swatted by Pascal Siakam.
But West came right back with a swat as well, and Durant finally got his first bucket as a Warrior, slamming home an uncontested bucket at the other end on the transition:
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Later, Iguodala raced up the court and dished behind-the-back to Durant on the left wing, but missed his target by about five yards. It just so happened that Curry was sitting there and he launched a shot from beyond the sideline, only to back-rim the shot:
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Durant missed a launch from up top on the two-for-one, Corey Joseph came back with a spin/fade on Durant, but Iguodala hit a buzzer-beater to put the Warriors up, 22-20, after the opening frame:
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2nd Quarter – Late Fireworks
JaVale McGee got the start in the second quarter, but Ross got past him from the left baseline, then Ross hit again later on a pull-up over Iguodala.
But Clark supplied the punch for Golden State, as he got a finger roll on a curl fed by Iguodala, then hit a three on a catch-and-shoot as Durant got doubled in the deep left post.
McGee got his first blocked shot as a Warriors, easily sending away a drive by Norman Powell, but that left center Jakob Proeltl wide-open for an uncontested putback.
With 9:17 remaining, Durant got a rebound, brought up the ball, and attacked Patrick Patterson to get to the line, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr brought rookie Patrick McCaw in for his first NBA appearance.
After a timeout, Ross got hot, carrying the Raptors on three buckets, one of them a three, to give the Raptors a 36-33 lead.
During the run, McGee managed to get an inside dunk, but Corey Joseph got past Curry for a layup and Steph tried to answer back with a triple, but only grazed the rim as the crowd yelled, “Airball!”
Later, Curry went behind-the-back with a zinger to Green, but he got fouled, missing the runner. The free throws closed the gap to 41-38, Raptors, with 5:23 to play.
Thompson got a layup and a three, but Durant kept missing, then Iguodala stole a bad entry pass to the switched Sullinger, who had Curry on him in the post, Andre flying in from the opposite side, and Klay benefitted with a transition swish from deep assisted by Durant.
After Durant lost the ball on a drive and DeRozan came back with a slam dunk on the break with Green saddled with four fouls, letting DeMar go uncontested, DeMarre Carroll scored a layup fed by Lowry as Thompson lost the ball sloppily on a drive.
After Durant missed yet again, Sullinger missed, and Steph got the board, attacked, found Iguodala, and Andre dished back up top to a trailing KD for his first three in a Warriors uniform:
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Lowry tried to answer with a three, but was short and Steph got the outlet and lobbed this perfect pass to Iguodala for the slam:
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Durant added a transition layup past Siakam as DeRozan couldn’t get the call on Thompson and missed a layup, but DeRozan stopped-and-popped past Klay for a 52-51 cushion just before halftime.
Curry missed a pull-up from the top arc on a two-for-one attempt, Carroll went to the line with 2.0 seconds left, fouled by Klay, and Green couldn’t get the touchdown pass to Durant at the buzzer.
The Raptors took a 53-51 lead into halftime.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @brucepoontip)
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