Will the Golden State Warriors create history in this NBA season?

The Warriors have started the season with a 12-0 streak

On Tuesday night, the Golden State Warriors continued their quest to have the best start by a defending championing, finishing off their 12 straight victory to start the season with a 115-110 win over the visiting Toronto Raptors (7-5). They are now two victories away from securing the best record ever by a defending champion, and they had to fight tooth and nail against a tough Raptors teams that was looking to bounce back after blowing a late 4th quarter lead against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday.

We fast forward to the 4th quarter, as the Warriors held onto a seven-point lead, 90-83, after the Raptors fought back in a spirited 3rd quarter after being down by as many as 18 in the first half.

The final stanza turned into a back and forth, grind-it-out affair as the Raptors looked to slow the tempo down to their liking and limit the Warriors fast break chances that have led to so many deadly runs.

While the Warriors tightened up their stellar, yet still underappreciated defense, holding the Raptors to a stagnant 5-17 shooting, the Warriors displayed some very uncharacteristic poor defensive fundamentals, fouling the Raptors 13 times and sending them to the foul line for 20 free throws. This included multiple bad fouls by Harrison Barnes, including two where he fouled jump shooters that had little to no chance of making the shot.

For a team like the Raptors that looks to live at the foul line, this was their saving grace to keep the game close as they couldn't buy a basket when the Dubs let them fire away.

As the game looked to be slipping away, with the Raptors surging and taking a 98-96 lead with just under six minutes left, the Warriors regained their offensive mojo when Draymond Green took the inbounds pass off a made free throw and raced down court to set up Andrew Bogut for an alley-oop. After getting a stop, Stephen Curry came down on the next possession and shook Cory Joseph to knock down a patented three, and the Warriors never relinquished the lead again.

However, the game was still in doubt in the last minute, after the Raptors got a stop, score and stop on three consecutive possessions, and came back with the ball down 109-108 with 25 seconds left.

Kyle Lowry then committed a brutally dumb offensive foul when he grabbed a Warriors defender and after Curry drained two free throws, Lowry came back down the court trailing by three, only to get stuffed at the rim by Draymond Green to effectively end the game. And just like that, the Warriors survived a very lackluster 2nd half performance on defense to escape with yet another win.

Player of the GameOnce again, Stephen Curry led the way for Golden State with 37 points, 9 assists, 2 rebounds, and a plus 11 when he was on the court. He was a little careless with the ball in the 1st and 4th quarters, finishing with 7 turnovers, but throughout the game, he routinely stepped up when the Warriors needed to answer a Raptors run. He seems to be clearly trying to send a message to everyone who questioned his MVP last year and whether the Warriors won a fluke title.

Unsung Hero of the GameIn the 1st half, with starting center Andrew Bogut pinned to the bench in foul trouble, Festus Ezeli stepped up and had a monster half. He finished with 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 blocks, but the stat line doesn't begin to capture the impact he had.

Multiple times he came flying in from off the television screen to snare rebounds that immediately turned into 2nd chance points by his more accomplished offensive teammates. His uncommon effort helped spring the Warriors to a 16 point halftime lead, and his plus 15 was very indicative of just the type of impact he had on the game.

Run of the GameThe Warriors went on a 12-0 run from the 3:40 to 1:25 mark of the 2nd quarter, which included a flurry of points from Klay Thompson and was capped by back to back offensive rebounds that led to kick out threes for the Dubs. By the end of the run, the Warriors were up 63-45, and this run gave the Warriors the cushion they needed when their defense began to falter in the second half.

Moment of the Game When Marreese Speights checked into the game late in the 3rd quarter, the Warriors resident 6’10” shooting forward (or the tallest shooting guard in the league as Curry has called him) immediately shot a 20-footer off a pass from Steph and drained it.

As the Raptors called timeout immediately after, the camera cut to Speights and you could see Curry in the background cracking up. This type of fun-loving joy is what has made the Warriors the darlings of the NBA, and something I believe has contributed to their success the past two years.