OAKLAND–There are nights for role players and nights for stars, and on Wednesday evening, the Warriors’ constellation was out and about.
Against a Toronto Raptors’ team armed with one of the top backcourts in the NBA, a pairing featuring Kyle Lowry and Demar DeRozan, the performances of Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson led Golden State to a 117-112 victory to push the Warriors above .500 (3-2) for the first time this season.
After a season-opening loss against Houston at Oracle Arena last Tuesday and a Saturday evening clunker in Memphis, Golden State rebounded with a 30-point win against a lowly Dallas team before needing its best players to play critical fourth quarter minutes against one of the Eastern Conference’s more talented teams.
While it was Thompson’s 18 first half points that carried Steve Kerr’s squad to a 61-53 halftime advantage, it was the play of Steph Curry and Kevin Durant that lifted the Warriors to victory after a late charge from the Raptors tied the game 104-104 with just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
With the game tied and the Warriors struggling to convert offensively, Curry pulled up from beyond the arc, but instead of hoisting a three-point attempt, the Warriors’ guard fired a laser inside to Durant who caught the pass and immediately motioned toward the basket. Durant’s attempt bounced off the back iron and out, but alas, a whistle blew sending Durant to the line.
First free throw? Back iron.
Second shot? Swish.
105-104.
It could have been the point the Warriors sprinted away, but instead, back-to-back Toronto buckets gave the Canadian upset bid some legs. Those back iron clanks were the perfect encapsulation of what happened to the Warriors down the stretch, as four consecutive missed three-point attempts inside of five minutes appeared certain to doom Golden State’s attempt to climb above .500 for the first time this season.
All those misses led to frustration that had the Warriors in a 112-107 hole with just 90 seconds left to play. Golden State was destined to fall to 2-3, and lose its first two regular season games at home.
But the Warriors have Curry. And the Warriors have Durant. They weren’t losing.
A driving Curry layup pulled Golden State within three. A Durant three tied the game. And with 32 seconds left, Durant fed Curry for the game-winning three.
On Wednesday night, Curry, Durant, Thompson and Draymond Green combined to score 96 of the team’s 117 points, a stunning barrage of starpower that makes the Warriors so hard to compete with. Sure, Steve Kerr’s squad didn’t have a single bench player score more than eight points against Toronto, and yes, the Warriors were down five inside of 90 seconds, but when you have two MVPs spacing the floor and three First-Team All-Defense candidates on the other end, it’s hard to cough up home games.
When the Warriors are at their best, it’s nearly impossible to stop offensive rotations that look more a ballet act on a hardwood floor than they do five teammates attempting to work toward a common goal and outduel five opponents. Take the first quarter, for example, when point guard Steph Curry executed a flawless crossover that left a defender on skates as Curry rose for a jumpshot. That bucket came shortly after a twisting, acrobatic drive and finish from Curry and right before a lob pass that rookie Jordan Bell slammed home for a high-rising dunk.
It was more than just basketball. It was theater.
The first quarter also featured a Draymond Green tip-in slam, and a rise-and-fire three-pointer from Klay Thompson, which brought the crowd at Oracle Arena to its feet for the first time. All of those plays, though, contributed to just a 29-26 lead at the end of the first quarter, as the Warriors’ attempt to finesse their way around the Raptors’ defense led to four turnovers and far too many easy baskets for Toronto.
By halftime, the Warriors’ turnover total had ballooned to nine, as Green committed three costly errors on outlet passes that had almost no chance of finding Golden State teammates while Thompson was responsible for two other preventable giveaways. But even as the Warriors’ turnover total climbed, they maintained their commitment to creativity on the offensive end of the floor.
Thompson, who pledged $1,000 for every point he scored during the Warriors’ three-game home stand, found open space around every corner in the second quarter, as he added three more three-pointers en route to a 15-point showcase that made him Golden State’s high point man at the half.