Toronto Raptors show new mentality despite loss to Golden State Warriors
It was an inspiring comeback that came up short as the Toronto Raptors refused to go down easily against the Golden State Warriors.
It is rare to see the tone of a game change as much as Saturday night’s game between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors did in the second half despite the home team coming out on the losing end.
Many probably expected the Warriors to continue pouring it on after scoring 81 points in the first half, it appears the Raptors had other ideas though. They nearly erased a 27-point deficit against the defending champions despite being without Kyle Lowry but ultimately came up short losing 127-125.
Unfortunately playing catch up against the Warriors eventually becomes exhausting. It showed when Kevin Durant and Steph Curry took turns making shots the Raptors struggled to convert in the final moments.
Toronto deserves a lot of credit, they could have let the Warriors pull away when the lead was cut down to nine then got back up to double digits but they refused to go down.
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A lot of it had to do with young players like OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl who decided that they would stand up against the bullies of the NBA. DeMar DeRozan had a game to remember with 42 points in 38 minutes and it should have been enough.
No team really wants to blame a loss on the referees, but the Raptors sure felt like they got the short end of the stick especially late in the game.
“It’s frustrating being out there, feeling like you’re playing five on eight,” DeRozan said to reporters after the game. “That’s just what it feels like. Period. Some of them calls was terrible. Period.”
DeRozan also had some thoughts on the final possession which was reviewed giving the Warriors the ball late in the game.
DeRozan on out of bounds review in final few seconds: "I thought you couldn't even (review and overturn) that. I'm not even a referee and I know that rule. So, somebody correct me if I'm wrong."
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) January 14, 2018
Then Dwayne Casey made sure to point out the impact that officiating had on the game as Arden Zwelling from Sportsnet wrote:
"“That was a backbreaker,” Casey said to the media. “We had the ball going the other way in that situation.”“It was just so many calls down the stretch – I’ve got to look at them. I’ve got to look at them and see,” Casey said. “It’s just mind-boggling when you ask the official, ‘did you see it?’ ‘Nah, I didn’t see it. It wasn’t my call.’ I’ve got to have an explanation.“And I have all the respect in the world for our officials. But when you go in and have that situation, guys fighting their hearts out — maybe they thought we didn’t deserve it with the way we played in the first half, I don’t know. But the way they scrapped in the second half — it blows my mind. And I think we have the best officials in the world.”"
They were not the best calls but it is something that should not come as a surprise for Raptors’ fans to see especially against a team like Golden State.
Luckily the Raptors get a chance to move from this loss and build on the strong second half performance and learn from what happened in the first half.
What did you make of the game against the Warriors? Did the officiating play as big of a factor? Let us know in the comments.