 | TOR Raptors | 121 | Final Box Score | 113 | GS Warriors |  |
 B | P. Siakam38 MIN, 17 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 5-17 FG, 0-7 3FG, 7-9 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, 3 +/- Not a trademark start for Siakam as Paschall was incredibly physical guarding the All-Star. The shot just didn’t fall for Siakam and the frustration began to seep into other facets of his game. His grade is bumped up by the resilience he showed with two awesome finishes at the rim in crunch time. | |
 B+ | O. Anunoby38 MIN, 14 PTS, 4 REB, 0 AST, 3 STL, 5-7 FG, 3-4 3FG, 1-2 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 16 +/- Anunoby finished a couple of crisp ball movement possessions with three-pointers but was otherwise quiet in the opening half. Showed great anticipation to blow up plays by poking away passes, but would’ve liked more possessions funneled Anunoby’s way once it was apparent that Siakam was having an off night. | |
 B+ | S. Ibaka30 MIN, 13 PTS, 13 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 6-11 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 3 +/- Utilized his size to dominate in his return from a two-game absence. Golden State didn’t have the requisite centres available to stop Ibaka and he attacked inside often in the post and as a roller given the absence of rim protection. It may be fatigue returning from injury, but Ibaka didn’t have the same presence in the second half. | |
 A+ | K. Lowry34 MIN, 26 PTS, 5 REB, 10 AST, 2 STL, 6-14 FG, 4-12 3FG, 10-10 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 6 +/- Picked up right where he left off the last time he played in the Bay area. Lowry scored a quick 10 points in the first quarter, knocking down triples and earning chippy foul calls to get freebies at the line. Didn’t offer the porous Warriors defence any time to breathe by constantly attacking his defender. Oh, and sprinkled in some PU3ITs for good measure. Quality night for a quality player. | |
 A+ | N. Powell38 MIN, 37 PTS, 3 REB, 2 AST, 3 STL, 13-20 FG, 4-8 3FG, 7-7 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, 12 +/- Best player on the floor tonight. It is crazy that injuries haven’t seemed to knock Powell out of his rhythm. He was relentless attacking the rim, finishing with euro steps, step-through moves, and leaving his defender in the dust off of cuts. Powell then went into his bag with a couple of dirty pull-up jumpers. Saved the Raptors from what could have been a painful loss. | |
 B | P. McCaw24 MIN, 0 PTS, 2 REB, 3 AST, 0 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 5 +/- Tasked with the unenjoyable task of guarding Curry, McCaw worked his tail off following the former MVP around the floor. Also had a beautiful wrap-around dish to Boucher, but was a non-entity offensively and the Warriors cheated off of him constantly. | |
 A- | T. Davis17 MIN, 10 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 3-7 FG, 1-3 3FG, 3-3 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, 10 +/- So… I guess the Rising Stars Challenge wasn’t the only event Davis should’ve competed in on All-Star weekend? TDII got me off my seat on two separate occasions, teleporting down the floor for a coast-to-coast dunk and then ending Chriss’ life with a dunk that may have registered on the Richter scale in San Francisco. | |
 B | R. Hollis-Jefferson8 MIN, 0 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 0-1 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 1 +/- Introduced late in the third quarter. Brought the defensive energy that was absent amongst the rest of the roster, but RHJ’s struggles to finish around the rim handicaps the offence if he isn’t surrounded by four quality shooters. | |
 C | C. Boucher8 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 9 +/- Struggled to bring his patented energy and was subsequently yanked after eight forgettable minutes. | |
 C+ | M. Thomas6 MIN, 2 PTS, 1 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-3 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 0 +/- Brought on for a few short stints, but wasn’t able to impact the game. Didn’t pull the trigger on the open looks he was offered in the second half, and then got blocked on the triple he did take. | |
 B | Nick Nurse Things were going swimmingly for Nurse tonight, but the second half was a different story. Toronto got what they wanted offensively in the first half and their game plan of attacking the paint in lieu of a rim protector was shrewd. However, Nurse struggled to find the appropriate lineups to keep the Raptors afloat when giving Lowry, Ibaka, and Powell a breather. The thin backcourt depth is to blame, but Nurse should know not to have McCaw and RHJ share the floor, especially when the momentum had shifted in Golden State’s favour. | |
Things We Saw
- Welcome back, Steph – Basketball is a better place with Stephen Curry in it. There was some rust to be sure early, but Curry pulled out some dazzling moves in his return after a 58-game absence. I forgot just how much Curry’s presence bends the gravity of the floor. Toronto frantically followed him off-ball only to leave two other Warriors wide-open.
- Wiggins on the Warriors – The Toronto native always adds a little extra oomph to his occasionally apathetic play when facing his hometown team. He had a few moments tonight in the new threads, including back-to-back triples, hopefully Wiggins can find a home in San Francisco. Before the game, Nick Nurse also sounded surprisingly optimistic that Wiggins may feature for Canada in the summer…
- Righting the ship – Toronto’s smooth regular-season hit a snag last week as they fell to their first three-game losing streak of 2020. Thankfully, the Raptors stopped a potential freefall with two close victories to earn a playoff berth. They were favourites in both matchups, nonetheless, it is a testament to the character of this team that they gutted out wins on the road against plucky opponents.
