DeMar DeRozan seemed to take recent criticism of his shot selection to heart, making several forays into the paint. So, instead of missing contested mid-range shots, he was deterred by Warriors shot-blocker Andrew Bogut closer to the rim. The starting lineup, which featured Patrick Patterson replacing Amir Johnson, managed just one assist in 112 total minutes of playing time. That is basically impossible. The second unit was better, but still lacking. Terrence Ross had 18 points, his best offensive outing in weeks, but a lot of it was just the result of making difficult shots. At one point, Ross tried to take defensive player of the year candidate Draymond Green on in isolation, had the ball poked away from him, re-collected it tried the same thing again. The shot missed, the just result for a poor idea. The contrast with the Warriors was stark, if predictable. One first-quarter possession had the ball move from side to side back to the original side, resulting in a totally open three-pointer for Klay Thompson. It was the first of three consecutive possessions that ended up in clean looks for Thompson, only one of the best shooters on the planet. It is not a matter of bad scouting on the Raptors’ part; just, when a team moves the ball that well, the other team can get whatever it wants. When a team does not move the ball crisply, a player has to make an excellent play on his own. One of those things is tougher than the other.
ounds like fun. Friday night was an incredibly one-sided show, but it was a show. The Raptors, of course, usually score with iso basketball. The Golden State scouting board read, “much of what they do reverts to 1-on-1.” “We didn’t share the ball the way we usually do. When we share the ball, that’s where we’re at our best,” said DeMar DeRozan, who spent too much time attacking alone. “Golden State showed a great example of it. They moved the ball extremely well . . . that’s the way we’ve got to get back to playing, not be so stagnant. For myself, too.” Iso may yet become Toronto’s fatal flaw. Of course, Friday night, everything was fatal. But at least the killers were fun to watch.
Friday night’s debacle against the Golden State Warriors was the ugliest yet. They went 1-of-19 in the first quarter of their 113-89 homecoming defeat. Their frigid start set a franchise record for offensive futility for a period, and it was entirely on merit. This was not a case of a team missing makeable shots. This was a case of a team consistently forcing the ball into the teeth of a very good defence and missing one highly contested shot after another. If you’ve been to an amusement park and watched bumper cars, you know what the Raptors looked like when they had the ball. All teams slump and the Raptors have kept theirs short this season, but even when rolling up their 37-21 record which remains the second best in the Eastern Conference, there were warning signs that not all was well. The Raptors three most frequent shooters – DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams – are shooting a combined 40.3 percent on the season. According to Basketball-Reference.com there are 90 players who average at least 11 field goal attempts a game this year, Among them Lowry, Williams and DeRozan rank 67th, 80th and 81st in field goal percentage. Lowry leads the trio at 41.6 and his success rate his falling like a stone.
Toronto Raptors hit new low in blowout by Golden Gate Warriors | National Post
The personnel change made no difference, and then, trailing by 41 points with five seconds left in the third quarter, Tyler Hansbrough flew at Golden State’s Festus Ezeli with fists flying, and was immediately ejected. Video review showed Ezeli shoving Hansbrough in the face first after the two tangled under the basket, and the Warriors centre was also ejected. If nothing else, the heated exchange brought the fans back to life, as the capacity Air Canada Centre crowd of 19,800 erupted in chants of “Let’s go Raptors!” Fans half-heartedly cheered a Jonas Valanciunas dunk that pulled Toronto to within 30 points midway through the fourth, but most of them were well on their way out the door by the final buzzer.
Warriors throttle listless Raptors | Toronto Sun
Lowry wasn’t the only one to play like trash Friday night. The entire starting unit played well below expectations as the Raptors laid a collective egg in this humiliating defeat. It was Toronto’s fourth straight loss, tying the season high for futility, and a night of many lows. Lowry and DeMar DeRozan were no match for the vaunted Splash Brothers, outscored 47-18. And that included an eight-point fourth quarter by DeRozan. Toronto’s starting backcourt went a combined 5-for-23, while Curry and Thompson shot a combined 17-for-31. In the opening 12 minutes, the Raptors sank one shot on 19 attempts. It was that kind of night.
Raptors get exposed in embarrassing loss to Warriors | TSN
By the time a Raptors’ player (Terrence Ross) reached double figures, Golden State’s dynamic backcourt duo of Steph Curry and Klay Thompson each had 20. When Curry’s three-ball put the visitors up by 40 moments later, the restless Air Canada Centre crowd voiced their displeasure, only to cheer up briefly after Tyler Hansbrough was tossed for getting into it with Warriors’ centre Festus Ezeli. It was ugly and although this is just one night, one loss, an expected one against the league’s best, the more pressing concern lies in their lifeless offence, something the Warriors were able to exploit with ease. “Not enough,” Casey responded pre-game, asked if his team is moving the ball to his liking. “That’s who DeMar is, he’s a semi-postup player and he’s going to be in that situation. But it’s up to his teammates to make sure they get to their spots, get the proper spacing. If they see their man cut, relocate. We have certain position on the floor when he is in the post and it’s up to them to get to where they are. But at the end of the day we do have to do a better job of moving the ball.”
Raptors need to find their swagger again | Toronto Sun
The Raptors insisted that the unexpected move to insert Patrick Patterson in the starting lineup in place of Amir Johnson was in no way responsible for the awful start. “ I don’t know. It doesn’t matter who starts, you’ve got to keep (everything) together,” Valanciunas said. “Amir or maybe tomorrow somebody else, every day you don’t know who is going to start. It’s not an excuse to be down the way we were down — 20 points. It’s not an excuse. But it’s on us, we’ve got to bring it back.” Valanciunas was in no mood for post-game pleasantries. He wants to see the team come out more aggressively and take it to the opponent, the same way Casey does. “We were kind of soft, too soft,” Valanciunas said. “We’ve got to man up and show that we can do it.” Valanciunas had 12 rebounds and Terrence Ross had 18 points, about the only two bright spots for the Raptors.
Game Rap: Raptors 89 Warriors 113 | Toronto Raptors
It Was Over When…The Raptors shot 1-for-19 in the first quarter. While the Golden State Warriors led 27-11 after one, a pair of Klay Thompson 3-pointers put them ahead 22-5 and they never looked back in a wire-to-wire win. “We were getting a couple of stops in the first quarter but we missed a lot of shots,” said DeMar DeRozan of the start post-game. “We got stagnant a little bit and they ran away with it.”
Observations From Toronto’s Locker Room After Losing To Golden State 113-89 | Hoops Addict
Casey on Tyler Hansbrough mixing it up: “I love it. Again, I don’t want to see a guy get into a fight, but I was glad to see somebody ready to hit somebody. If we can get 13 or 14 other guys to have that kind of fight and fire and passion we’ll go with that.”
Golden State Warriors Come Out and Play, Crush Raptors 113-89 | Raptors HQ
The Raptors meanwhile continue to mystify. Over their last eight games, they’ve now gone into full WTF mode. This stretch, starting with the Clippers game and ending tonight, was to be a test. It was a run of quality opponents and tough road games. Many wondered how the team would do, given its relatively up-and-down play in 2015. After the first four games, with wins over the Clips, defending champion Spurs, Wizards and East-leading Hawks, the Raptors looked poised to wage a war on the world. This was the team we loved. But then… then came the next four games: A loss to an Anthony Davis-less Pelicans team (for the second time in the season), an ugly beat down by the Houston Rockets, outgunned by the Mavericks and now this, mercy killed by the Warriors. Four steps forward, four steps right back. Despite the .500 play as of late, the Raptors are still 37-21 and second in the conference. We know they can’t win a championship. We know this for sure. Other than that, total mystification. Nothing else makes sense.
Warriors’ statement strong, if late, in beating Raptors | SFGate
The only sign that the Warriors were playing for the second night in a row was that seldom-used Ezeli and Justin Holiday got early minutes. The Warriors showed no fatigue in displaying a swarming defense and racing out in transition from the opening tip. The Raptors set a franchise low, making just 1 of 19 shots in the first quarter as they fell behind 27-11. The Warriors went on to lead by as many as 26 in the first half and skipped into the locker room ahead 54-31 as the Raptors had more turnovers (12) than field goals (nine). Thompson needed only 133 seconds to score the Warriors’ first 11 points in the third quarter. Toronto head coach Dwane Casey was so angry that he benched his entire starting lineup in unison at the 8:45 mark of the quarter. He probably wanted to bench the entire second unit at the 4:05 mark, but he didn’t have enough players. At that point, the Warriors were just goofing around and throwing each other lobs while piling up an 86-46 lead.
Recap: Warriors get Jurassic on Toronto | Golden State Of Mind
The bench as a whole was nearly as bad. With Andre Iguodala sidelined for scheduled rest, it was a golden opportunity to see the extended bench in action. But we got a quick reminder why some of these guys are on the bench. The fourth quarter started with only two points in the first seven minutes and thirty-three seconds. It’s tough to get upset with a team letting some or most of a 41-point lead slip away, but it is clear that the bench is not playing as well as the sum of its parts. Fortunately, most NBA teams don’t get to enjoy hockey-style fourth quarter substitutions. Those only happen when you’re doing really, really bad, or really, really well. Despite Thursday night’s disappointment, the Warriors have proven to be pretty darn good at the latter…especially on back-to-backs. One more feather in the Warriors’ cap: an NBA best 10-2 on the second game of a back-to-back.
Golden State Warriors Bounce Back, Rout Toronto Raptors | Blue Man Hoop
The fourth quarter consisted entirely of garbage time, as the Warriors’ bench played the entire quarter, and — despite making just one field goal in the first seven minutes of the quarter — finished off the big win.
Warriors use big first half to help hammer Raptors | ContraCostaTimes.com
Klay Thompson scored 25 points, and Stephen Curry had 22 as both needed to play only three quarters for the Warriors to know they would win by a comfortable margin. The defense-fueled demolition of Toronto began right from the start as the Raptors set a franchise low with a 5.3 shooting percentage in the 11-point first quarter. Advertisement The Warriors led by 16 after the quarter and extended the lead to 54-31 by halftime as the Raptors made nine field goals while committing 12 turnovers in the first half.
Instant Recap: Warriors Dominant In Win Against Raptors 113-89 | Warriors World
2nd Quarter: The second unit has been deployed to give the starters rest. The Raptors began to crawl back and find energy as the lead shrunk to 27-17. Mo Speights continues to drain midrange jumpers between 17 and 20 feet to make the most of his minutes. Draymond continued to make three balls pushing his percentage to 75%. Thompson’s midrange shot pushed the Warriors lead to 22. With a tad less than 4 minutes to play, Curry re-entered for Livingston and quickly drained a shot.
Toronto Raptors: Poor Rebounding Could be the Downfall | Raptors Rapture
The problem lies particularly with Johnson and Patterson, who are both not carrying their weight in the rebounding department. Though neither have ever been particularly prolific rebounders, they have both turned in better efforts than this year’s mediocre totals. Patterson earned 5.8 rebounds per game while in Sacramento to start the 2013/14 season. Johnson, easily the better rebounder of the two, earned 6.6 rebounds per game a season ago and 7.5 the season before. With age and ankles that progressively resemble paper mache, Johnson is simply struggling to bring the ball down. The problem is serious. Only two above .500 teams rank below the Raptors in rebounding: the Atlanta Hawks (!) and the Milwaukee Bucks. The Raptors get consistently out muscled by opposing bigs, leading to second chances. For example, against the Houston Rockets (Feb. 21), the Raptors were out-rebounded 52-39 en route to an ugly 98-76 loss. In that game, Donatas Montiejunas earned 11 rebounds and Corey Brewer earned 10 for the Rockets.
Photo by Frank Gunn (AP/CP)
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