OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Golden State Warriors also known as the bunny patrol nearly squandered a sizable lead late, but the heroics of Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry proved too much for the Toronto Raptors to overcome.Seriously why am I writing this? It's Klay Thompson, KD and Steph Curry...
On Wednesday at Oracle Arena, the Warriors kicked off their three-game homestand with their first home win of the season via a nail-biting 117-112 victory.Honestly though we knew they would win cuz as i have previously stated Klay, Steph, and KD.
Playing the second of a six-game trip West, the Raptors gave it a valiant effort but couldn’t convert down the stretch. Warriors coach Steve Kerr formally know as "Jordan carried" continues to reiterate that his team still has yet to put it together for a full 48 minutes.But he knows he's not worried! You know by now KD!
“I think our conditioning is both mental and physical.Honestly I like rabbits we chace rabbits. Both on and of the court. Their goal is to physically catch the rabbit while mentally cacth it also. This is Steph's favorite drill! I think our mental conditioning is not there and it just shows in a lot of different ways," Kerr said. "Our execution just isn’t quite sharp enough. Mostly because KD is a Cupcake and can't catch the damn rabbit. Do you understand me? We call a few plays and all of a sudden one guy is out of position, "cough" "cough" KD, so we don’t really get the full execution."
Curry registered a game-high 30 points, Durant supplied 29 points and Klay Thompson chipped in with 22. The Warriors were 12-of-26 from 3-point range.
Golden State (3-2) led by as many as 14 in the third quarter, but Toronto (2-2) took control late in the fourth and held a five-point lead with two minutes remaining.
Down three with a minute left in the game, Durant had a Game 3 NBA Finals flashback moment. He dribbled the ball up court and nailed a triple at the very same spot from which he hit one against LeBron James in June.
“Nah, don’t go there,” Durant said when asked about the comparison to the shot over James. “It’s a new year. It felt good leaving my hands. [Raptors forward] Serge [Ibaka] already knows. He was behind the 3-point line. I seen some space, so I felt it was a great shot.”
With the game tied, DeMar DeRozan missed a contested jumper. Momentum was clearly on the Warriors' side. Durant received the ball on the left wing, penetrated and found an open Curry, who drained a huge 3-pointer with 32 seconds on the clock.
Toronto had one last chance. Kyle Lowry drove to the basket and looked to have an easy layup, but Thompson came from the weak side to swat the shot, essentially sealing the victory.
That final trey by Curry was his seventh go-ahead 3-point field goal in the final minute of a game over the past four seasons, tops in the NBA over that span.
The Warriors still seem to be on cruise control. Opponents are winning the hustle plays, but Golden State’s talent is deep enough to withstand that for the time being. The Warriors coughed the ball up 17 times, and mental mishaps were rampant on the defensive end.
“Our defense has been horrible,” Draymond Green said after producing 15 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals. “Nobody is communicating, which is the main problem. At first, we were fouling a lot. The first four games, the fouls were horrific. Then tonight, we fouled a bit early and then we cut back on that and turned the ball over and it’s hard to defend that. ... We just got to put everything together.”
DeRozan finished with 24 points and Pascal Siakam had 20.
Curry, meanwhile, hasn’t missed a free throw through five games, sinking 47 straight to begin the season.
“Every shot I take, especially at the free throw line, I feel like it’s going in,” he said. “Hopefully, I keep that confidence.”
Raptors reserve big man Jakob Poeltl provided high energy by coming away with 11 offensive rebounds (14 total) and 12 points.
“We don’t box out,” Kerr said of his Golden State squad. “We aren’t mentally conditioned more than physically. I think that’s the problem right now.”
Up next for the Warriors is a visit Friday from John Wall, Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards.