LDN - Sports

Warriors get past Raptors in fifth straight win

[November 17, 2016] TORONTO -- The Golden State Warriors probably won their game with the Toronto Raptors in the second quarter Wednesday night.

They outscored the Raptors 32-15 to take a 66-53 lead into the half. They led by as many as 19 points in the second half and withstood a late Toronto rally to win their fifth game in a row, 127-121.

"The second quarter was great, one of the best quarters we have played," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "That's probably the only quarter we've played tonight the way we want to play. Defense was good, we didn't foul. We rebounded, and that was obviously the key to the game, that whole stretch. Draymond (Green) was brilliant. The whole quarter, I thought he was great."

Stephen Curry scored 35 points, including 14 in the third quarter, and added seven assists for the Warriors (9-2) who gave the Raptors (7-4) their second loss in a row.

Green, who had 11 points and seven rebounds on the game, agreed with his coach's assessment of the second quarter.

"I think it was amazing right from the start," the forward said. "We had the second unit that was in there got the tempo going, got the defense going, they started rebounding the basketball. We came back in and picked up where they left off. Offensively and defensively it was amazing."

"I thought we got into outscore mode, tit-for-tat," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "And again great scoring teams like last night's game (Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers) and tonight will get you in that mode. The only we can do that is to try and control the tempo but at the same time we have to score."

The Warriors led by 18 points with 4:27 left in the game before the Raptors chipped away to reduce the lead to six with a minute to play on a 3-pointer by Terrence Ross.

Ross was fouled by Curry attempting a 3-point shot with 13.6 seconds left in the game and converted all three free throws to cut the lead to four.

Klay Thompson, who finished with 14 points, made two free throws with 12.3 seconds left and the Warriors led by six.

"They got back into the game, they got to the free-throw line a lot, 41 times," said Warriors forward Kevin Durant who scored 30 points with nine rebounds and six assists. "That kind of messed our rhythm up a little bit. We played together, we played extremely hard and made those guys take tough shots."

Andre Iguodala contributed 10 points off the bench for the Warriors.

DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 34 points, the ninth time in 11 games that he has scored at least 30.

"They switched," DeRozan said, when asked about the second quarter. "They switched really well, especially when they go small. Their ability once Draymond (Green) is at the five and being able to switch everything, we kind of got stagnant once they did that."

Kyle Lowry added 24 points for Toronto with Jonas Valanciunas scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Cory Joseph chipped in with 14 points off the bench and Pascal Siakam added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors.

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Raptors center Jonas Valanciunas (17) battles for a loose ball with Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia (27) during the first quarter at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

"They switched everything and got more physical (in the second quarter)," Lowry said. "We got uncharacteristic with turnovers and the shots we took."

Durant made a 3-point shot at the buzzer to end the first quarter with the Raptors, who led by as many as 10 points, leading 38-34.

The Warriors took a 41-40 lead on another 3-pointer by Durant with 8:51 to play in the second quarter. Valanciunas had the Raptors leading by four on a turnaround jumper with 7:07 left. Curry's 3-pointer put the Warriors back on top at 50-49 with 4:39 to play in the half.

The Warriors had a 19-point lead early in the third quarter. The Raptors trimmed the lead back to 13 before Thompson restored the 18-point advantage with a 3-pointer with 5:40 left.

DeRozan's pull-up jumper with 3:47 to go in the quarter cut the margin to 10. When Ross made a 3-pointer, the lead was down to five. Curry's 3-pointer closed out the third quarter and gave Golden State a 95-86 lead.

Golden State opened an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter on Durant's hook shot.

Patrick McCaw's 3-pointer from the corner with 5:02 left in the game gave Golden State a 116-100 lead. Curry added two free throws to increase the lead to 18.

"It was a good way to start the (four-game) trip," Kerr said. "Beating a really, really, good team in a very tough environment."

NOTES: The Raptors and the Brooklyn Nets are the only teams this season to face the Cleveland Cavaliers, the NBA champions last season, and the Warriors, the finalists last season and the champions in 2014-15, in back-to-back games this season. The Raptors lost to the Cavaliers 121-117 in Cleveland on Tuesday. ... Raptors F Demarre Carroll, who was rested the two previous games as he returns from offseason knee surgery, was back in action Wednesday. ... The Warriors won both games against the Raptors last season. The teams meet again Dec. 28 at Oracle Arena. ... The Warriors play the second game of their four-game trip Friday against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden. ... The Raptors open a five-game trip Friday when they play the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

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