Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant (35) shoots against the Toronto Raptors during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Impressive offensive production makes up for 20 Warrior turnovers.By Cole Reece| December 28th
The Dubs exploded out of the gate with an 11-2 run. Klay Thompson had the hot hand, and the Warriors were firing on all cylinders. Toronto opened just 1/10 from the field they were bullied by the Warriors. It was a perfect 1st quarter for the Dubs as they found themselves up by a huge margin (42-17). Golden State shot the ball at 72 % and held the Raptors to 19%. Klay Thompson led all scorers with 12 points on 5/6 shooting. The tide began to turn in the 2nd quarter as Toronto slowly chipped away at the 25 point lead. Terrence Ross was a pivotal part of the Raptors 2nd quarter. Coming off the bench for Dwayne Casey Ross scored 19 points in the 1st half. Demar DeRozan found his rhythm and scored 17 points for the Raptors. The story of the second quarter was the Warriors turnovers. Golden State committed just one in the first quarter. In the 2nd quarter, they committed 10 turnovers. Toronto capitalized on those turnovers for 22 points cutting the Warrior lead down to 5 points. The Dubs woke up and went on a 14-2 run to close out the half with KD leading the way. Warriors were up (72-55) at half-time.
The Raptors continued to fight against the Dubs in the 3rd quarter. Kyle Lowry was the aggressor as he continued his hot three-point shooting. Klay Thompson matched Lowry and locked in after being held scoreless in the 2nd quarter. Headed into the final quarter, Golden State led by 17 points (104-87). Toronto never let up and continued to force Warriors turnovers. Following a 15-2 run the Raptors got the lead down to 7 points. The Dubs would persevere and go on to defeat the Raptors 121 to 111. The Tandem of DeRozan and Lowry was fantastic. Demar had 29 points while Kyle posted 27 points. They gave the Warriors everything they could handle. Luckily the big boys came to play tonight. Steph finished with 28 points and 7 assists. Durant scored 22 points as well as collecting 17 rebounds. Klay rounded out the top scorers with 21 points on the night. The Turnovers nearly cost the Warriors tonight. 20 turnovers are simply not acceptable for this team. Harrison Barnes and the Mavericks journey to Oracle on Friday to attempt to corral Curry and Co.