Last night the Toronto Raptors faced off against the Golden State Warriors in a hard-fought, but ultimately 117-114 losing effort. Golden State has been one of the NBA’s hottest teams in recent times, due to the acquisition of Jimmy Butler III. Including last night’s game, with Butler on the roster this season, Golden State is 16-3, and last night he showed why he is so valuable. Toronto did not allow themselves to be walked over last night, despite the seemingly overwhelming talent gap between the two teams. Even a pelvis injury to Steph Curry that sidelined him during this game was not enough for Toronto to pick up the upset victory. Although it was a loss, there are plenty of positive things to surmise from this game, especially on the offensive end.
Scottie Barnes had one of his best games in recent memory finishing with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. Barnes’ mid-range touch was potent, he was using his size and length to finish at the cup well, and kept the three-point attempts to a minimum. Anytime Barnes had a switch he did not let them off the hook, and he comfortably got to his spots in order to rise up for an easy mid-range jumper, or finish over the top at the rim. When Barnes limits his outside shot attempts and focuses on getting to the rim, which he did last night, good things usually follow.
Jamal Shead had an outstanding game as well, really showing some of his capabilities offensively. The young Raptors guard finished with 11 points last night, and he showed a level of comfort with the ball in his hands that was very encouraging. He had a pick n’ roll play where his poise and patience in using a hesitation move froze the big in drop coverage and gave him the angle for a layup. Shead also put his stamp on the game with an emphatic slam after he paraded down the lane.
Immanuel Quickley also had a good game finishing with 21 points and 8 assists. Quickley hasn’t always been the best at finding his way into the paint, but last night against plenty of drop coverage, he was able to skip his way through the lane, which opened up many opportunities for himself, and his teammates as well. His floater looked strong, he had a couple of very nice scoop layups high off the glass, and his activity behind the three-point line was once again good. Jakob Poeltl poured in 18 points of his own on 89 percent field goal shooting, and he was a reliable release valve in the paint and short mid-range area all game.
All of this offensive excellence from Toronto was enough to stay in the game, but the defense just did not hold up long enough to outlast Golden State. Draymond Green, a man not known at all for his scoring, led Golden State in scoring last night with 21 points, which includes 5 three pointers. Green attempted 14 three-pointers, something that Toronto was more than comfortable with him doing, as many of these attempts were without a man near him.
Conceding this many attempts to a player is a risky tactic, but ultimately 5 threes is 5 threes. There were many moments where this game seemed out of hand for the Dinos, but they always seemed to fight and claw their way back into it. The third quarter saw things get dire for Toronto initially, but after a 20-5 run in the period, they were able to take the lead and take control of the game.
Before he got hurt, Curry was shaping up to have one of his signature games, as he had 17 points in three quarters, including 10 of those points in the third period where he ultimately got hurt. Butler recorded a triple double last night with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists. Butler’s scoring wasn’t very impressive but his playmaking was as he always found his way into the teeth of the defense, opening things up for his teammates.
Entering the fourth quarter this game was within 1 point, and up for the grabs for whomever wanted it. Barnes recorded 9 of his 29 points in this period, getting to the paint consistently as was previously mentioned. With Curry sidelined with an injury, closing the game fell to Butler and he shot a woeful 1 for 11 in this period, so safe to say he was not the swinging factor as this game closed. It was more of a group effort from Golden State to close this one out, many timely buckets from various role players like Brandin Podziemski and Buddy Hield, held off Toronto.
It was nice to see Toronto go away from the outright tanking approach and play their guys in the final minutes of a close game. The loss was still secured, draft odds were improved ever so slightly, and you didn’t have to take valuable minutes away from your best players in order to do it.
