After the loss last night to the Cavs, the Golden State Warriors flew up north, getting in at 3:00AM in the morning to face the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre tonight. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr decided to rest Andre Iguodala tonight.
All-Star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, who did not play in the last game between the two teams at Oracle, has been back for the Raptors since mid-January. Both teams had no major injuries or transactions to report, pre-game.
1ST QUARTER: Good Defense, Solid Offensive Rhythm
The Warriors started the first quarter playing some great defense, but things didn’t pickup on offense until Draymond Green hit two straight treys, prompting Raptors head coach Dwane Casey to call timeout with 6:03 remaining and Golden State up, 14-4.
Things could’ve been a lot worse for Toronto than a ten-point deficit. The Warriors shot just 3 for their first 11, ranging from a missed lay-in that had the ball trickle out of the rim, by Stephen Curry, to missed runners from Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes. Add a muffed pass by Andrew Bogut on a roll to the basket, the bouncer by Thompson, and you had an anemic-looking offense.
But the defense was brilliant.
Bogut had a slap-away of a Jonas Valanciunas post-up, Green was switched on DeRozan and kept the explosive shooting guard in front of him, plus forced an airball as DeRozan made a spin and tried to fade away, and Bogut appeared as extra help anytime DeRozan or others got far into the interior, despite the guard’s ability to hang in the air. The Dubs were also helped by an unforced dribble off his own foot of James Johnson, who started off the night well with a blocked shot of Thompson on the opening sequence.
Back on offense, Curry showed his next level of play, smartly drawing a Chris Paul-like body foul on a three-pointer in early transition with no Warriors under the hoop.
Curry also displayed his knack for being around the ball. After he passed to Bogut on a slip, Harrison Barnes got fed the ball by Bogut, took a a shot from the deep right corner, but missed it well short off rim. But Curry stayed where he was, right where the ball landed, instead of heading back as the point guard safety valve, and got an easy putback layup as a reward, just before Valanciunas could react and disrupt from under the hoop.
So with under seven minutes remaining in the opening frame, Green trailed a sequence that had Thompson probing the defense with the left-handed dribble, and when Draymond got the ball, he didn’t hesitate and drilled the three-pointer.
After Johnson’s turnover of dribbling off his own foot into the baseline seats, Klay this time went with the right-handed dribble across the perimeter and found Green at the left elbow for another trey, and Raptors called their timeout.
With Iguodala not playing, Festus Ezeli was the first Warrior big off the bench, and the Warriors added a sequence where they made six passes before finally getting the bucket. Klay initiated the attack, fed Green, who swung the ball to Barnes, who drove left baseline and left a drop pass for Ezeli. At this moment, Thompson was wide open on the right side and, with Ezeli not seeing him and opting for a pass out to the top to Green, Curry pointed emphatically towards Klay’s direction. Green quickly got the ball to Steph, who shoveled a touch pass out to the still-open Thompson, who dropped the triple.
Curry found Klay again shortly thereafter, getting the offensive rebound when Green’s trey attempt fell short, and finding Thompson beyond the arc for three more. That gave the Warriors a 22-5 lead with 2:39 remaining, heading into a TV timeout.
The little-used-of-late Justin Holiday then got the call and he, along with Curry, Leandro Barbosa, Green, and Ezeli finished out the quarter.
Curry got a beautiful three-pointer to swish from the top, staying in-rhythm despite offering a pump fake that 2013 Slam Dunk champion Terrence Ross bit on, but Green picked up another technical after Barbosa got called for a shooting foul on Lou Williams‘ three-point attempt.
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However, that would be the Raptors’ biggest “run” as they finished the quarter down, 27-11, to the Warriors. Toronto shot just 1-for-19 in the quarter. Green led the way with 10 points as Curry added 9 points and 3 assists.
2ND QUARTER: Domination
Shaun Livingston, Barbosa, Holiday, Marreese Speights, and David Lee started the second quarter for the Iguodala-less Warriors. However, Golden State didn’t look in-rhythm as Livingston missed a fade-away after there was nothing going on offense, and Amir Johnson converted an easy post-up bucket on a lob entry pass, so Kerr called timeout early with 11:00 left and the Dubs up, 27-13. At that point, the Warriors were still shooting poorly: 8-for-25, although the Raptors were much worse, at an incredible 2-for-21.
Holiday, who hadn’t been playing much off the bench as Barbosa’s play improved over the last few weeks, struggled. Although the shotclock had wound down to 4, he couldn’t get a pick-and-roll with Lee going and hoisted a hurried three-pointer that bounded off the far side of the backboard. On the ensuing transition, Toronto’s Greivis Vasquez fed Amir for a dunk, and the Raptors had cut the lead to 27-17 with 10:00 remaining.
Thompson would sub in for Holiday shortly after that.
Then Speights got going. After Lee knocked the ball out of Valanciunas’ hands — and a rare non-call against Lee — Barnes led the break and dished to Mo for an easy-looking banker from the right side. Then after Lee got a tip-in of a missed Klay jumper, Speights converted a pick-and-pop as Livingston went past his screen and dropped the ball off back to Mo at the elbow. The lead was growing and the Warriors now led 33-18 with 8:27 to play in the half.
Speights then hit one from the top of the circle, assisted by Livingston again, and took a charge on Ross, although Ross had drilled a three and gotten a nice drive to fall that the Warriors goal-tended on. Green hit another trey and Casey had to call timeout again, down 41-23 to Golden State, with 6:09 to go. During this entire time, Curry was getting an extended rest on the Warriors’ bench.
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The Dubs did a good job with their up-fakes, as Speights attempted a jump shot, but at the last moment lasered a pass down low to Livingston, who converted a jump-hook, and Klay got Kyle Lowry to bite on an up-fake, then stepped inside the paint for a short jumper.
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After Speights drew another charge anticipating the drive on DeRozan, who had danced past Thompson on a pick-and-roll on the perimeter, Curry came back in with 3:48 to play in the half and Golden State with a commanding 47-25 lead.
Green closed out the half brilliantly, lunging out on a Ross fade-away to force a bad miss, tapping out an offensive rebound of a Speights miss to Curry, who drove in, stopped, and popped, and posting up on the smaller Lowry for what should have been called an and-one, but was instead a side-out per the referee.
The Warriors ended the quarter with a defensive stop, as Valanciunas got another ball slapped away in the paint, this time by Bogut, but Green’s jump pass to Barnes in the left corner was a little off kilter, although Harrison could’ve been faulted for not simply stepping forward away from the three-point line, and James Johnson was able to swat HB’s trey attempt at the buzzer.
Golden State took a dominant 54-31 lead into the halftime break. Thompson led the way with 14 points, as Green added 13, and Curry 11. Draymond also had 2 blocked shots and 8 rebounds, while Steph had 4 assists, and Klay also had 3 assists. Bogut had 7 rebounds and Livingston 4 assists. Speights chipped in 8 points.
Meanwhile, Toronto shot just 24.3% from the field (9-for-37), 1-for-9 from downtown, and committed 12 turnovers.
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