COX PAVILION, LAS VEGAS, NV — The Golden State Warriors continued their Las Vegas Summer League Tournament play against the Toronto Raptors.
Warriors head coach Jarron Collins started the same lineup he did the previous night against the Houston Rockets: Patrick McCaw, Thomas Walkup, Royce Oneale, Darion Atkins, and Ognjen Kuzmic.
1st Quarter – Toronto Controls the Paint
Th Raptors controlled the tap and Norman Powell quickly put them on the board to go up 2-0.
After Toronto added another basket, Pat McCaw got the Dubs on the board with a strong side cut to the basket for a right-hand layup to open the Warriors’ scoring.
Thomas Walkup scored consecutive baskets for the Warriors, first a pull up jumper coming off a screen, then cleaning up a missed layup by McCaw on the break to put the Warriors up 6-5.
Ognjen Kuzmic made his mark on the first quarter with an put back plus the foul, giving him 3 early points and 4 rebounds.
McCaw then got consecutive chances from deep, missing the first from the right corner but burying an even more wide open look from the left wing to the Warriors up 12-11.
Nice ball movement leads to a @pmccaw0 triple on @nbatv (listen from https://t.co/ZkjPJjiF76) pic.twitter.com/W17s7odZGR
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 15, 2016
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However, the Warriors could not stop the Raptors from getting in the paint and creating scoring chances.
Toronto put up 10 points in the paint plus another six from the free throw line, ending the quarter with a 21-15 lead over the Dubs.
2nd Quarter – Pat McCaw Catches Fire
David Laury and O’Neale got baskets early in the second to help keep the Warriors within striking range.
Kiefer Sykes buried a jumper of his own to cut the lead Raptors’ back to 3, then McCaw began a furious scoring run.
McCaw drained a 3-ball from the left corner, then another deep two from he right side with his toes on the line and let everyone know he was feeling it by miming a scope to his left eye.
O’Neale goes crosscourt for another long range bucket from @PMcCaw0 on @nbatv. #NBASummer pic.twitter.com/JktyStDNyQ
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 15, 2016
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The former UNLV Rebel followed that with an even more impressive sequence, stripping Powell clean then knocking down a step-back three over him.
McCaw added another impressive basket, catching a great touch pass from Laury over the shoulder like a wide receiver before quickly laying it up and in through traffic.
He finished his scoring run with another three from the top of they key, giving him four made baskets from beyond the arc in the half, and 19 points on 7-10 shooting.
The Warriors trailed by just one in the half’s final seconds, but Bruno Caboclo hit a long runner at the buzzer to push Toronto’s lead to 39-35 at the break.
3rd Quarter – For Raptors, Lightning Strikes Twice
Walkup immediately got out on the break after a Raptor turnover, laying the ball in to cut the Toronto lead to just two.
The Warriors fell behind 47-39, but a Sykes managed to find O’Neale just as the buzzer sounded for a 3-point baskets.
McCaw then sparked another run scored 6 unanswered points and grabbing 2 steals in a 9-0 run that saw the Warriors re-take the lead 48-47.
The most impressive of those points a beautiful dribble move where he split defenders at the top of the key, drove diagonally across the lane then finished with his left hand at the basket in traffic.
Once again, the Warriors were down 1 after a Walkup runner with 2.3 seconds left in the quarter, but the Raptors somehow managed to beat the buzzer again.
This time, Fred VanVleet cashed in from 60 feet to put the Raptors up 54-50 going to the 4th quarter.
4th Quarter – Kuz Scores 10, But Raptors Live At The Line
The Dubs quickly cut into the Raptors advantage, as Sykes went behind the back to set up a pull-up jumper with his defender still recovering to try to contest.
Then O’Neale found Kuz in the paint for a score to tie it all up at 54. An Atkins tap back put the Warriors up 56-54 and Kuz scored once more to increase the Warriors lead to four.
But the Raptors made a living at the line in the quarter. They scored on 10 of 11 free throw chances in the quarter, and on 30 of 40 for the game.
Kuz continued his strong 4th quarter play, earning a basket plus the foul to push the Warriors back up 60-57 with 6:51 left in the game. He couldn’t convert the FT, and it remained a one possession game.
Kuzmic with the and-1 finish on @nbatv. Bay Area, listen to the game’s conclusion on https://t.co/ZkjPJjiF76 pic.twitter.com/SnjGxJjrqr
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 15, 2016
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He continued to steady the Warriors with a another score that made it 62-59 Dubs, but the Warriors scored just once in the next 4:22 as the Raptors took control of the game with a 14-2 run.
In what was McCaw’s worst moment in the game, he turned the ball over then compounded his mistake with a frustration foul on a made basket at the defensive end.
That put the Raptors up 68-62 before Keifer Sykes completed a difficult scoop layup with contact to close the gap back to just four points.
Two more free throws and a three pointer made it 73-64, seemingly putting the game out of reach, but the Warriors fought hard to the end.
Sykes missed a three, but O’Neale grabbed the rebound and set up McCaw for the reload, cutting the lead to 6 with 59.5 seconds to play.
You may want to get to NBA TV for this #NBASummer finish! https://t.co/8pwS562xB2
— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 15, 2016
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O’Neale and McCaw worked together once more to trap Delon Wright on the inbounds, forcing a travel as the point guard fell out of bounds with the ball.
Sykes drove hard through the lane on the next possession after another O’Neale offensive rebound, setting up Kuz once more to make it 73-69 with 34.5 seconds to go.
The Warriors managed to force another turnover on the inbounds, but McCaw rattled out a three and the Warriors failed to get another shot up in the final 28 seconds, falling 75-69 to Toronto.
McCaw finished with 28 points on 10-17 shooting (5-11 from 3PT) to go with 2 rebounds and 3 steals.
Kuzmic also had a good night, finishing with 13 points and 9 rebounds, while O’Neale contributed in a variety of ways despite shooting just 2-12 from the field.
He collected 14 rebounds and 5 assists, and for a short stretch played center in what one of our Twitter followers’ deemed the “Summer Death” lineup.
Beyond McCaw, the Warriors went just 1-18 from long range, also committing 17 turnovers to just 13 for the Raptors.
The loss means the Dubs will be back in action again Friday night, in what will be their 5th game in 5 days. They take on the the Dallas Mavericks at 7pm to conclude their summer league action.
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