“They shot the hell out of the ball man, but that’s how that team is built,” Williams said. “They got a lot of guys who can make shots. They’re not called Splash Brothers and all these different nicknames for no reason. “Steph Curry is one of the most elite shooters in this league and when you have to pay so much attention to him and you have other guards around him who can make shots when you’re focused on him, it makes it difficult to guard,” he said. Casey certainly didn’t enjoy the outcome but he knows a good team when he sees one and gave the Warriors their proper due. “That’s a well-oiled machine, their small lineup is one of the best in the league,” Casey said. “I thought we competed in certain areas but every mistake we made, they cashed in on it. That’s why I always talk about attention to detail against a great team, that shows you right there. You make one mental mistake and they make you pay for it.”
As good as they are offensively, the Warriors are almost equally adept at defence. Even without a big, tough interior presence, they scramble the game with switches because they are so athletic and force teams like Toronto out of their comfort zones. “Our turnovers are what killed us. We had 17 turnovers, 25 points, that’s the ball game right there,” said Casey. “Again, against a switching defence, you can’t dance with it, you have to move the ball and attack. When we did that, we scored. And for whatever reason, every once in a while we’d get the ball and it’d get stuck and we couldn’t go by them. What we have to do is make sure when we get a switch either attack or move it, make quick decisions. That’s what got us tonight.”
When I was 12 years old, my community basketball coach preached that the most important part of a basketball game was the first five minutes of the second half. I’m not sure if he ever talked to the Golden State Warriors, but they certainly heeded that message Friday night. Leading the Toronto Raptors by five at halftime, they went on a devastating 20-5 run to start the second half, then rode it out to a 126-105 win. The Raptors got a signature night from Greivis Vasquez, maybe his best game of the season so far, as he put in a team-high 25 points with seven assists and five rebounds. Kyle Lowry added 22 points and eight assists. The Warriors, now 26-5, were led by Stephen Curry, who was simply phenomenal with 32 points, 12 assists and five boards. Draymond Green had a triple-double in support with 16 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds. Also not to be forgotten, Marreese Speights had the soft touch all night for 26 points and eight rebounds.
Maybe it’s arguable whether the absence of DeMar DeRozan or Andrew Bogut leaves a bigger hole, but I’m pretty sure where everyone here stands on this one… With Festus Ezeli out as well, Kerr has shown a tendency to double in the post, having an outside guard or wing come in to help. From what I’ve seen this seems to be working: we’ve been forcing the ball out of the post, and recovering on switches pretty well. Don’t get it twisted, Marreese Speights had a grown man game tonight. 12 for 19 from the field, 8 rebounds (4 offensive), and at least one drawn charge (did I miss some?), all the while showcasing a very smooth midrange jumpshot. Someone here recently made a comparison to LaMarcus Aldridge, no? While this may be a bit far-fetched, there are certainly some similarities. And drawing charges has to be undervalued – essentially a steal and a foul for the opposing player. Mo’ is tied for second behind Kyle Lowry, what a coincidence.
Instant Recap: Warriors Take Care Of The Raptors At Home 126-105 | Warriors World
The Warriors came out to play defense in the second half. They scored nine points in the first two minutes and a half and the Raptors couldn’t buy a bucket. They only scored two points in the first five minutes and the Dubs pounced on them. The Warriors scored 21 points in the first six minutes of the quarter and their lead ballooned to 21. The Raptors then went on a 9-4 run and they kept fighting back. Steph Curry then made the crowd explode with a posterizing dunk. A few buckets from the Raptors cut the Warriors lead to 13 and once again this was a game.
Golden State Warriors surge past Toronto Raptors in win | Blue Man Hoop
A 23-5 Warriors run in the third quarter opened up what had been a tight game up until that point. It was evident that they made adjustments coming out of the half, picking Toronto apart with crisp passes. With just a little over four minutes left in the third quarter, Andre Iguodala stole the ball and led Stephen Curry on the break who electrified Oracle Arena by throwing down a powerful dunk over fellow MVP candidate Kyle Lowry.
West-leading Warriors knock off East-leading Raptors | SFGate
While turning a five-point game at halftime into a 23-point laugher during the third quarter, the Warriors got 10 points from Klay Thompson and eight from Marreese Speights, five dazzling assists from Green and a thunderous dunk from Stephen Curry that left the point guard pounding his chest under the rim. “I couldn’t even stop screaming when Steph did it,” Green said. “I was just out there yelling.” Curry scored a team-high 32 points to lead five Golden State players who scored in double digits. He also had 12 assists, pushing him past Warriors legend Al Attles for seventh on the franchise’s all-time list. He had zero turnovers as the Warriors tied their season low with nine. Green stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, a career-high 13 assists, 11 rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals. “I wouldn’t argue with that,” Kerr said when asked if Green could be the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year. “Draymond has to be mentioned for a lot of different things because of the impact he’s had. Most Improved Player would be a possibility. I don’t know if he’s going to make the All-Star team, but he would have my vote. He’s just been brilliant, and he represents kind of who we are as a team — the versatility, the scrapping, the toughness.”
No Bogut? No Ezeli? No Problem! Golden State Warriors Roar Past Raptors | Golden Gate Sports
Many feared this would be a tough game with no one to defend Toronto’s big man Jonas Valanciunas. But the Warriors held Valanciunas to eight points and zero rebounds. Speights, with help from Harrison Barnes and Green, were able to to keep the seven-footer out of the paint most of the night.
Warriors pull away to beat Raptors | San Jose Mercury News
But at the finish, it was still Stephen Curry commanding the biggest spotlight. Curry led all scorers with 32 points and added 12 assists and five rebounds while not committing a single turnover. For good measure, he had a rare breakaway throw-down dunk over Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry during a blistering Warriors third-quarter run in which they expanded a five-point halftime lead to 23. The dunk, which came off a turnover, was something akin to a pitcher hitting a home run while pitching a shutout, a bonus to a fabulous night. “When I caught the ball I got a little adrenaline kick and figured I could turn my hand over and get it over the rim,” Curry said. “I jumped a little higher than I thought, which was nice. Then I lost my mind for a good 20 seconds. That was my first dunk with some oomph to it.”
Toronto Raptors torched by Golden State Warriors | Raptors Cage
It usually isn’t fair to be too hard on a team whose defence isn’t exactly up to task against such a scorching offence, but the Raptors tonight were absolutely carved up. Coach Dwane Casey, a strong proponent of the defensive side of the ball, will certainly have a lot to dissect when reflecting on tonight’s affair after his team allowed 40 points in the first quarter and 66 points in the first half. While the Raptors did make an impressive defensive stand midway through the 2nd to take a 2 point lead, the tide would change greatly once the second half began. The Warriors would burst out to a 22-3 run and would not look back.
Pretty Much The Massacre You’d Expect – Raps @ Warriors | Mediocre No More
Oh, and classic move by Casey: Valanciunas highly effective in the first quarter, so what does coach do? Why, pull him, of course. I get Speights was going off, but Speights ended up going off the entire night, anyway – leave JV in there and let him figure him out. Don’t be so afraid to try and set the pace, instead of always matching the opponent’s.
Raptors benefit from Patrick Patterson’s high basketball IQ | Toronto Star
Patterson’s instincts, specifically on the defensive end of the floor, have been honed since arrived in Toronto from Sacramento in a blockbuster trade in December 2013. He has become particularly adapt at the “principle of verticality” that allows defenders at the rim to contest shots without fouling by going straight up and down rather leaning into or away from attacking opponents. Patterson is quick to credit coaches with starting him on that path. “That all came from Jesse (Murmys) and Jama (Mahalela),” he said, citing two of Toronto’s assistant coaches for basketball development “When I first got here, I tried to block shots, I’m not typically a shot-blocker with my height but I tried to block shots then Jesse and Jama introduced me to the vertical.
How the Toronto Raptors’ Terrence Ross has put DeMar DeRozan’s absence to good use | National Post
Terrence Ross, the nominal small forward in the Raptors’ typical starting lineup, fills his spot more for his offensive purposes than his defensive attributes. Other than reserve big man Patrick Patterson, Ross is the team’s best three-point shooter, connecting on 38.4 per cent of his team-high 172 attempts. While he does not possess the stronger, more substantial body type that James Johnson can use against the likes of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, his shooting gives all of his teammates more space. In particular, he makes it far easier for Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan to get into the paint, because Ross’s defender cannot abandon him to help stop whichever Raptors star has the ball. All of that being said, it has still been interesting to watch Ross function without DeRozan.
I can haz yo linkz??! rapsfan@raptorsrepublic.com
