ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Three nights after the Xmas loss to the Cavs, the Golden State Warriors (27-5) were back at home to face the Toronto Raptors (22-8), as part of a 9-of-10-game homestand.
The Warriors were fully healthy and had a full squad, and head coach Steve Kerr placed Damian Jones and James McAdoo on the inactive list.
The Raptors were without Jared Sullinger (left foot surgery) and Delon Wright (right shoulder surgery).
Q1: You Wouldn’t Like Me When I’m Angry
The Warriors got off to a torrid start as Klay Thompson got a layup…
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[protected-iframe id=”48ec8a410273fe78881e3c040d737595-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbballbreakdown%2Fstatus%2F814316355998531584″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]Durant added a layup on a feed by Draymond Green and Golden State took an early 11-2 lead with 9:09 remaining as Toronto head coach Dwane Casey took a timeout, and #SweaterMom as well as Golden Suit Man made an early appearance on the jumbotron:
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DeMarre Carroll tried to answer with a jumper over the long arm of KD, but missed, Steph got the board, dribbled up-court, and pulled up from straight-away for another trey:
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But the Warriors kept humming out of the timeout as Klay blocked Carroll’s jumper, Curry drove hard into the paint and dished back out to Durant on the right wing, rattling home another triple.
[protected-iframe id=”0cd9734b6e7021cc68c8713f28ce1dc2-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbballbreakdown%2Fstatus%2F814317978695012352″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]Later, KD got a lay-in thanks to a touch-pass by Green, Draymond drilled a three from the left wing on a cross-court pass from the opposite block by Zaza Pachulia, Thompson made a mid-post turnaround over Lowry, and Klay made a “Triangle” cut past Green with the ball for a dribble-and-pop “J”.
Just like that, it was 31-10, Warriors, with 3:04 to play.
Maybe the only thing that went wrong was, out of the timeout, the Dubs got a little careless. Andre Iguodala made a bad pass, but the Raptors couldn’t capitalize, then Steph threw a terrible lefty sling pass.
However, Draymond hustled back on defense and disrupted Terrence Ross twice at the rim, although the sequence eventually ended with a Toronto bucket.
Ian Clark came in and immediately hit a left corner long two-pointer, and Curry went with a behind-the-back step-back triple, missed, but #Roaracle was happy to see him gunslinging.
Green, who had miscalculated a lob earlier to JaVale McGee, connected this time with a “tic-tac-toe” that started with Steph…
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Draymond canned another three from the top via Durant, then got a steal, outlet to KD, who found Iguodala streaking down the right side for a one-hand jam:
[protected-iframe id=”46696d5c94a5289647ee65e7763aa60a-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwarriors%2Fstatus%2F814322617238757376″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]To cap things off, the Warriors got the ball back with 6.9 seconds to go, Green entered the ball to Curry isolated in the paint for a fade-away, Steph missed, but Clark attacked the rim on the rebound and got the tip-in with just under 3 seconds left.
That gave Golden State a whopping 42-17 lead after the opening frame.
Q2: Pendulum Swings
Lowry got the Raptors off to a good start with a triple, then an “and-one” attacking Shaun Livingston down the lane.
Later, KD lost the ball and Lowry lobbed an easy touchdown pass to Ross for a dunk, and Toronto made things respectable again, with a 44-24 deficit as Kerr called timeout with 10:11 remaining.
David West made a nice dish to Durant for the dunk out of the timeout…
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Norman Powell hit a jumper at the shot clock buzzer and DeRozan got another bucket, and suddenly the Raptors were back in business, 48-33 with 6:26 to play.
Lowry added a three out of the timeout, and Green lost the ball while dribbling, leading to another layup by Lowry on another attack.
Curry finally broke the Warriors’ drought with a drive and inside dish to Pachulia, but Draymond made a sling pass to Zaza too close to him and Lowry drew three foul shots on Green while kicking his leg out unintentionally, per the replay.
Suddenly, the Raptors were within 50-42 with 4:31 to go.
That seemed to wake up the Warriors, as Draymond went strong with a lefty layup, answered by a DeRozan attack, but shortly thereafter, Durant found Iguodala on a cut and Andre slammed home the two points.
Still, Toronto hung around and waited for another Golden State mistake, which came when Clark threw an errant pass inside to Green and Ross lofted a catch-and-shoot trey over Iguodala to close to within 56-51 with 2:54 left.
Steph finally had enough of it and drove down the lane for a finger roll, then after Jonas Valunciunas beasted Draymond for an inside put-back, Durant posted up and found Clark cross-court for a triple from the left side, giving the Warriors a little cushion at 61-53 with 2:10 remaining.
Out of a timeout from Casey, Valunciunas missed inside, and Curry led the break, finding KD for three from the right arc.
Ross finally missed, and Durant brought the ball up, found Valunciunas on him, and shook him at the top for a layup strong down the right side of the paint, past the help from Ross:
[protected-iframe id=”0c21eaa70ac87bea82eac8273f9af95c-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fbballbreakdown%2Fstatus%2F814329402913759232″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]But KD got a little too unselfish on the next play, making an un-needed extra pass from Steph that turned into a turnover, which ended with a fast break layup from Ross, and the Raptors finally broke a mini-drought of their own to get back to within striking distance with the Dubs up, 66-55, with 50 seconds to play.
Curry answered with a fake swing pass and drained a three over Patrick Patterson, Corey Joseph’s scoop went too hard and Valunciunas got called for a clear-out on Iguodala, giving the ball to the Warriors with 19.8 seconds to go.
On the last Golden State possession, Steph threw a cross-court pass to Green, who attacked and, late in the clock, found KD in the left corner for a splash…
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With the late swing of momentum, the Warriors took a 72-55 lead into halftime.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @BruceAgidSF)
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