Hot damn, the Warriors are good.
The Raptors were simply unable to keep up with the torrid pace unleashed in Oakland last night. Forced to go small in the absence of big men Andrew Bogut and Festus Ezeli, the Warriors started the game by dropping consecutive threes en route to a season high forty-point first quarter. In the opening period the Warriors shot 70 percent from the field while hitting 5-of-7 threes and connecting for 13 assists and only one turnover. Kyle Lowry and Jonas Valanciunas led the way for Toronto in the first, finishing with 11 points and 8 points, respectively. Despite Valanciunas’s effectiveness offensively early on Dwane Casey decided to go small most of the game and consequently Jonas only saw the court again for a 2:25 second stretch to start the second half.
The second quarter was a bit of a rollercoaster. Down nine to start the quarter, the Raptor’s bench unit closed the gap to four on the back of a hot-shooting Vasquez. The Warriors responded with a mini-run of their own that saw a lot of easy looks at the rim courtesy of some nifty Iguodala passes and overly aggressive steal attempts from Hansbrough. Once Lowry returned to the game, the 3-guard Raps forced a series of turnovers and went on a 21-5 run to go up 59-57 before Steph Curry commandeered a run of his own to put Golden State up 66-61 at the half. Gravy Vasquez was simply awesome, scoring 13 of his 16 first half points in the quarter.
The third quarter was basically the knockout punch for the Raptors. The Warriors opened the half at a frenetic pace, going on a 17-2 run that put the Raptors down big. While the Raps were able to claw back, as they tend to do, the Warriors went on a final 14-0 run in the fourth to ice the game.
Thoughts
- In some ways in not totally sure what the Raps could have done. This was just one of those games where everything clicked for Golden State. The Warriors’ commentators were consistently noting how guys like Speights and Green were drilling tough step backs that aren’t usually part of their arsenal.
- On that point, this was one of Golden State’s most efficient offensive performances in a decade. According to ESPN Stats and Information: “The last time the Warriors had a game with at least 125 points, 35 assists and 10 or fewer turnovers was March 1, 1993 vs Sixers.”
- Steph Curry really loves the Raptors. Prior to last night he was averaging 28.1 points, 53% FG and 8.5 assists against the Raps. These are all team-high opponent averages for him. Last night he padded those stats with 32 points and 12 assists on 10-of-18 shooting.
- Draymond Green posted his first career triple-double with 16 points, 11 rebounds and a rather astonishing 13 assists. Not bad for a second round pick.
- I do question the decision to totally neglect the size advantage. I watched the Warriors feed and their announcers couldn’t believe that Casey chose to sit Valanciunas for most of the game. He was effective in the paint and feeding him in the post helped slow the game down.
- The Raptors fell to second in the East behind Atlanta with this loss.
