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The Golden State Warriors were dominated by the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, trailing by as many as 27 points before falling 133-118 at home. The embarrassing blowout loss led to a very blunt postgame assessment from Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
Golden State never led Toronto, falling behind by double digits early on, en route to a 76-49 halftime deficit. The Warriors shot just 20-for-52 (38.5%) and 5-for-25 (20.0%) from deep in the first half.
Golden State rallied in the second half to cut the deficit to single digits. However, Toronto, led by wing RJ Barrett’s season-high 37 points on 65.0% shooting, held on for a 15-point victory.
Kerr touched on the Raptors’ offensive onslaught from the opening tip, highlighting how they effectively nullified Warriors superstar point guard Steph Curry. The two-time MVP finished with just nine points on 14.3% shooting. Kerr also referenced Toronto’s 24 to eight advantage in fastbreak points.
“We got punched in the mouth right away. They just took it to us,” Kerr said.
“They had [Scottie] Barnes on Steph, we just had to cross-match and then he just ran to the front of the rim over and over again. And they just basically threw the ball in transition and got a bunch of easy buckets early. … So, it was a really ugly first half.”
Kerr added that there were some positive takeaways from his team’s second-half performance, but by then, the game was already too far out of reach.
“I was happy with the way the guys competed in the second half … our guys really competed, but we were too far behind to really make a full run,” Kerr said.
The loss marked the Warriors’ fifth in their last seven games. Meanwhile, the Raptors have won three of four games since acquiring Barrett and guard Immanuel Quickley from the New York Knicks last week.
Toronto (15-21) next plays the LA Lakers (18-19) on the road on Tuesday, while Golden State (17-19) hosts the New Orleans Pelicans (22-15) on Wednesday.
RJ Barrett on lighting up the Warriors for a season-high 37 points
Following his season-best 37-point performance against Golden State on Sunday, RJ Barrett spoke about his adjustment process since joining the Raptors.
The 23-year-old highlighted how he has been trying to play sound team basketball as he gets used to his new team.
“I'm trying to play the right way and help my teammates,” Barrett said. “A lot of learning going on. I'm still learning the defensive system, trying to get better at that every day watching film. But I'm just trying to help, that's all I'm trying to do.”
Through four games with Toronto, Barrett is averaging 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.5 steals and 2.5 3-pointers per game on 53.8% shooting.
Meanwhile, Immanuel Quickley is averaging 17.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 6.5 apg, 0.8 spg and 3.0 3pg on 39.7% shooting after four games.
The two have diversified the Raptors’ offense after the team struggled to generate consistent offense earlier in the season. Toronto is averaging 125.8 ppg since the trade, compared to its season average of 115.0 ppg (16th in the NBA).
So, the move to acquire Barrett and Quickley appears to have paid off thus far.
