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 | Toronto | 111 | Final Box Score | 121 | Golden State |  |
 D+ | D. Carroll28 MIN, 13 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, 5-12 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 2 BLK, 1 TO, -10 +/- Looked really bad in the first half, looked a few steps slow defensively, and shot selection was questionable. Got more of a look in the second half most likely due to the fact that he won’t be playing tomorrow in the back to back, and didn’t look that much better. | |
 C- | P. Siakam4 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, -15 +/- Started the game, played 4 minutes, got a rebound, took a shot, missed a shot. | |
 D | J. Valanciunas21 MIN, 7 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 2-5 FG, 0-0 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -13 +/- Valanciunas just doesn’t matchup well against the Warriors. When Zaza Pachulia is on the floor it’s fine, but when the Warriors went on any major run, it was Val guarding the much smaller Draymond Green that was a big cause. Every switch was a huge mismatch for him, if he’s not bodying guys down low and scoring on nearly every possession, than he just out there being a huge liability on defense. I’m not going to fault a guy for being put in a bad situation, but when Valanciunas did get his opportunities he squandered them. | |
 B+ | D. DeRozan39 MIN, 29 PTS, 5 REB, 6 AST, 10-23 FG, 0-1 3FG, 9-10 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -15 +/- Congrats to DeMar DeRozan on passing Chris Bosh as the scoring leader in Raptors franchise history. Finished the game with 29 points, but against top-tier teams you would hope DeRozan would go into another gear defensively, instead he had some major blunders on the defensive end. | |
 A | K. Lowry40 MIN, 27 PTS, 6 REB, 11 AST, 9-22 FG, 5-12 3FG, 4-5 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 4 +/- Lowry was on fire again tonight. Did his best to try and keep the Raptors in the game on both ends of the floor, and finished the game with another head turing stat line. Come on people this is what you can expect out of the best PG in the Eastern Conference. | |
 A- | T. Ross34 MIN, 24 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, 10-23 FG, 4-9 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 8 +/- Was a spark off the bench tonight, and a huge piece of the somewhat stagnate offense early on in the game. Ross was huge in the first half, in the second half his shot wasn’t there as much. Ross got some serious run in the second half because of his impressive first half. | |
 B | P. Patterson33 MIN, 5 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 2-9 FG, 1-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, -8 +/- Struggled on the offensive end tonight, and in the first half was no where to be seen defensively. In the second half, he was much better on defense even when switched onto the much smaller Steph Curry. | |
 B- | L. Nogueira17 MIN, 0 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 2 +/- Did a nice job on the defensive end matching up against the smaller Warriors lineup. Was great on the boards tonight particularly on the offensive glass, even providing some nice kick outs for open threes. Thought he should have maybe got some more fourth quarter time as the Raptors struggled to grab defensive boards. | |
 C | C. Joseph17 MIN, 4 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 1-5 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -9 +/- Didn’t do much significant at all. Looked okay on the defensive end. | |
 B- | N. Powell7 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 6 +/- Didn’t do anything jaw dropping on the offensive end, but thought he should have taken some of Carroll’s minutes in the second half for his versatility guarding everybody from Steph Curry to Kevin Durant. | |
 B- | Dwane Casey Had some weird stretches when he ran Valanciunas too long at the end of the second which resulted in some huge Warriors scoring runs. Thought Powell also provided a defensive versatility that would have found him some more playing time. Against teams the Raptors should beat, Casey’s playbook is pretty set. Against a team like the Warriors who play like no other team in the league, some shakeups in the lineup might need to be made. | |
Things We Saw
- Warriors shot 70.8% from the field in the first quarter, and nothing about a 42-17 scoreboard looks pretty. The Raptors were able to pull it back to five for what seemed to be only a second, and trailed by 17 at the half. This game wasn’t particularly a “blowout” but the Warriors were in cruise control for most of the second half, and the Raptors always felt like they were down 13 points.
- Raptors got killed in transition. Scoring 29 transition points a lot of them were just too easy. Pretty frustrating, that’s all.
- This was a good test for the Raptors, but the start to the game was so ugly the Raptors never fully recovered despite the runs they made late it just wasn’t enough. These are the kind of games that put the Raptors in their place, they are just one step below the tier the Warriors and Cavs are on, which isn’t news to many but some who had some glimmer of hope, it looks like the Raps are one piece away still.
- This was the Raptors first double digits loss of the season, and this road trip has been especially rough with the Christmas break in between and flights for the players. Let’s hope tomorrow’s back to back isn’t too tough against the Phoenix Suns.
