The Toronto Raptors fall to Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, 109-112. Curry led all scorers with 44 points on 14-24 shooting, handing the Raptors their second straight loss.
Once again the Raptors started the game allowing their opponent to catch fire early, as the Warriors shot 52 percent from the field scoring 32 points while leading by eleven after quarter number one. The effort was there for the Raps – they battled all night long. As expected, the Raptors made their run in the third with help from Kyle Lowry, who finished with a career high 41 points and 7 rebounds. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to hand the Warriors their first loss of the season as they improve to 21-0.
The Raptors next game is against the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday with Kobe Bryant coming to town to a face a team he knows too well for the final time as he sets to retire after this season.
Offence: B
A run in the second half had the Raptors back into this game with them even holding a lead at one part but once again the Raptors went away from what brought back, as isolation basketball took over again. Free throws killed the Raptors late in the game with Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, both missing crucial attempts that would have saw them ahead. DeRozan was pitiful, shooting 5-19 for an inefficient 16. Shoutout to Bebe, Lucas Nogueira for an added 14 points.
Defence: C-
It was apparent that the Raptors struggled guarding the Warriors stupendous offence, allowing them to shoot 47.9 percent from the field while also allowing them to nail 16 from deep on 53.3 percent shooting. The Raptors who allow opponents on average 96.4 points a game ranking fourth in the league allowed the Warriors to 112 points in this contest. The Raptors fell right into the Warriors palms in this one, playing their style of basketball.
Rebounding: C+
The Raptors were out-rebounded 43-38 in this contest but did win the battle on the offensive glass, thanks to Patrick Patterson who came off the bench collecting four with a total of ten rebounds. Raptors were able to grab eleven offensive rebounds but the starting lineup did struggle on the glass getting out-rebounded from the Warriors starting group, 30-16.
Game Ball: Stephen Curry
Of course the game ball goes to Curry who was nearly unstoppable in this matchup with 44 points and 7 rebounds while nailing more three pointers than the Raptors with a game-high 9 from beyond the arc. Curry is averaging 32 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds and has shown no sign of slowing down.
