Warriors-Raptors Preview

By MATT BECKER
Posted Mar 03 2012 1:50PM

Although facing the Toronto Raptors usually brings out the best in Golden State, it might not be enough to get the Warriors' struggling offense on track in the season's first meeting.

Golden State, which could again be without Stephen Curry, hopes to break out of its funk Sunday night against a Toronto team playing much better defense under first-year coach Dwane Casey.

After averaging 104.3 points in winning two of three games prior to the All-Star break, the Warriors (14-19) have since averaged 82.0 points on 38.4 percent shooting in dropping two of three.

Against Philadelphia on Friday, Golden State trailed by three points at halftime but scored just 36 in the second half of a 105-83 loss.

"We have to be on all the time," coach Mark Jackson said. "We have to be aggressive. We have to play with force."

Part of the reason for Golden State's sluggish offense stems from Curry's injured right foot.

Curry, third on the team with 15.7 points per game, has played all of three seconds in the last three contests and could be sidelined again. Sitting out Sunday could be trouble for Golden State because Curry's career average of 30.3 points in four games versus the Raptors is easily his best against any team.

Led by Curry's scoring exploits, the Warriors have averaged 120.2 points in winning the last five meetings with the Raptors. It's their longest active winning streak over any opponent.

Monta Ellis also has played a big part in Golden State's success in this series, having scored 55 points on 55.9 percent shooting in two meetings last season. His 24.1 career scoring average versus the Raptors is his second-highest against any opponent.

While Golden State has regularly frustrated Toronto, winning 10 of 12 meetings since 2005-06, its offense - with or without Curry - could have problems this time.

The Raptors (11-25) are yielding an average of 94.1 points - 11.3 less than last season - and are 7-4 when holding an opponent to 92 or fewer. They had allowed an average of 88.3 points on 39.3 percent shooting over a three-game stretch before Friday's 102-99 loss to Memphis, their ninth defeat in 12 games.

Toronto had a chance to tie the game, but Jose Calderon's 3-point attempt bounced off the rim with four seconds left and saddled the Raptors with another painful loss.

Five of Toronto's past eight defeats have been by three points or fewer. The Raptors haven't lost by more than seven points since a 100-64 blowout at Boston on Feb. 1.

"Somewhere the basketball gods are waiting for us to make those plays, to be good to us," Casey said. "Right now, and I've seen a lot of NBA games, we're doing everything to win the games except winning games."

Jerryd Bayless led six Raptors in double figures Friday with 18 points to equal his point total from his previous four games. DeMar DeRozan was held to four points after averaging 22.8 in his final five games of February.

DeRozan scores 25 points as Raptors beat Warriors

Posted Mar 04 2012 9:42PM

TORONTO (AP) Whatever Golden State coach Mark Jackson has been telling his team at halftime, it's not working.

DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points, James Johnson had 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors rallied to beat Golden State 83-75 on Sunday, snapping a five-game losing streak against the Warriors.

Golden State scored just 11 points in the third quarter, watching a 47-38 lead become a 60-58 deficit.

"We were up (nine)," Warriors guard Monta Ellis said. "To give this game away is terrible."

A frustrated Jackson certainly thought so.

"This one stings," he said.

After scoring a meager 36 points in the second half of Friday's 105-83 loss at Philadelphia, the Warriors were even worse after the break in this one, scoring just 28 points and making only 11 of 40 field-goal attempts.

"It hurts really bad," rookie Klay Thompson said. "This was a very winnable game, a team that we thought we were better than."

Golden State has failed to score more than 18 third-quarter points in losing three of its past four.

"That's four games in a row where we've had bad third quarters," Jackson said. "We knew that coming into this one. We talked about it at halftime. Once again, we were thoroughly outplayed. We didn't execute offensively, we gave them hope and forced us to try and win the game a second time instead of putting them away when we should have. A bad loss."

While Jackson was urging his team to avoid another second half swoon, Raptors coach Dwane Casey was issuing his team a challenge.

"I told them the game is about frustration," Casey said. "It's how we fight through this. Feeling sorry for ourselves, fatigue, it's not that important. What's important is how we approach our job as NBA players. They came out and really faced the challenge."

Amir Johnson had 11 points and 13 rebounds, Leandro Barbosa scored 18 points and Ed Davis grabbed 12 rebounds for the Raptors, who had lost 11 of their last 14.

David Lee had 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Ellis scored 20 points, but Golden State lost for the sixth time in nine games.

"For whatever reason, we're just not shooting the ball well as a team right now," Lee said. "We settled for a lot of jumpshots in the third quarter tonight, myself included."

Golden State made just four of 19 3-point attempts, shot 29 for 80 overall and missed six of 19 free throw attempts.

Ten of Golden State's 14 turnovers came in the second half, and they allowed 18 points on giveaways. The Warriors also scored just one fast-break point.

"We should be running off our stops and we should be taking care of the basketball," Jackson said. "We did none of that."

The Warriors came in averaging 120.2 points in their previous five meetings with Toronto, their longest active winning streak against any opponent.

Lee tied it at 62 on a dunk with 9:59 left, but failed to complete the three-point play. Toronto answered with a 7-0 run to take a 69-62 lead with 8:32 to go.

Golden State trailed 75-71 with just over two minutes left when Amir Johnson fell down clutching his right knee, allowing Nate Robinson to come up with the steal. With Johnson still on the floor, Robinson drove in for a layup but missed. Johnson stayed down as Barbosa drained a 3 from the corner, putting Toronto up 78-71 with 1:55 remaining.

Toronto missed its first six field-goal attempts, but shot 7 for 14 the rest of the first quarter to avoid falling too far behind. Golden State's shooting was just as poor: The Warriors made only eight of 22 attempts in the first, but eight points from Lee gave Golden State a 20-18 lead after one.

Lee scored eight more in the second, while Rush and Robinson came off the bench to score six points each as Golden State took a 47-38 lead into the half.

Lee scored just two points in the third and the Warriors made just five of 23 field-goal attempts as the Raptors roared back. Barbosa's jump shot tied it at 58 with 58 seconds left in the quarter and, after a steal by Ed Davis, Jerryd Bayless fed DeRozan for a go-ahead alley-oop.

Notes: Warriors C Andris Biedrins, who came in scoreless in his past three games, was replaced in the starting lineup by Ekpe Udoh. Biedrins was scoreless again in this one, missing both shots he took in six minutes of action. ... Golden State G Stephen Curry (strained tendon in his right foot) dressed but did not play. Curry has played just 3 seconds in the past four games. ... Golden State came in having won 10 of 12 meetings with Toronto dating to the 2005-06 season. ... Lee's double-double was his 19th of the season. ... Jackson played 54 games for Toronto in the 2000-01 season.

Notebook: Raptors 83, Warriors 75

Posted Sunday March 4, 2012 9:48PM

By Duane Watson for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Toronto Raptors (12-25) earned a tough 83-75 victory over the Golden State Warriors (14-20) on Sunday afternoon at the Air Canada Centre. Both teams shot the ball poorly throughout the game, but the home team made shots when it counted, making a 12-2 run to end the third quarter 60-58. The Raptors carried that momentum through the fourth for the win outscoring the Warriors 23-17 in the final frame. The Warriors pulled with four points at the 2:50 mark, but wouldn't get any closer with three different Raptors players scoring six points in the quarter.

The Raptors were led by DeMar DeRozan's 25 points and Leandro Barbosa's 18 points. James Johnson and Amir Johnson both had a double-double. David Lee had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors and Monta Ellis had 20 points on 8 for 22 shooting with seven assists.

QUOTABLE: "A lot of the games, towards the end of the game we've been getting that rebound that's just been slipping away from our fingers, lose balls that we're not gathering up and me and Amir wasn't going to let that happen today."
-- Raptors forward Johnson.

THE STAT: It was a game of two halves, with the first half going to the Warriors 47, Raptors 38. The second half was dominated by the Raptors 45, Warriors 28, their effort and defense by the Raptors is what made the difference for the game.

TURNING POINT: With the Raptors up 81-75 with 17.9 on the clock, Ellis' missed turnaround jumpshot from the free throw line was the Warriors last chance to make a dent in the lead. The Warriors didn't score a basket for the last 1:20 of the game.

QUOTABLE II: "That was big, you knew with him coming in he was going to try to get off and score. We just tried to make him take tough shots. If it go in it go in, if it don't, we did our job."
-- DeRozan on the team effort to contain Ellis.

HOT: Lee was efficient with the ball in the first half for the Warriors shooting 6 for 7 from the field and 4 for 4 from the free throw line for 16 points and four rebounds in 16:46 of play. The Raptors tried various match-ups but his play was unmatched, with the Warriors taking a 46-38 lead into halftime.

NOT: Warriors guard Nate Robinson received significant minutes tonight with Stephen Curry out, but was ineffective shooting 2 for 12 with four rebounds and despite two steals, wasn't able to make a difference on the defensive end.

NOTABLE: Curry dressed but did not play for the Warriors (ankle).... The Warriors 11 points in the third quarter was the lowest any opponent has held them to all season... With Ed Davis' 12 rebounds the Raptors had three players in double digit rebounds, the last time was 3/26/2010 when Andrea Bargnani, (Amir) Johnson and Chris Bosh did it... With the win, the Raptors ended a five-game losing streak against the Warriors... The Warriors have dropped two in a row and are 2-3 on their current six-game road trip... The Raptors have now held their opponent under 40 percent from the floor in three of their last four games.

UP NEXT: Toronto continues their homestand on Monday vs. Orlando, Wednesday vs. Houston and Sunday vs. Milwaukee. Golden State plays on Monday @ Washington, Wednesday vs. Memphis and Saturday vs. Dallas.

• Warriors: Brown, Tyler
• Raptors: Alabi, Bargnani

• Warriors: --
• Raptors: --

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 5

• Arena: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Officials: #19 James Capers, #56 Mark Ayotte, #28 Tommy Nunez Jr.
• Attendance: 18056
• Duration: 2:08