Curry piles up 44 for 21-0 Warriors

By no means was win No. 21 a masterpiece by the Warriors – the road to 21-0 can’t be majestic the whole way through – but Curry’s master class was enough for Golden State to edge the Raptors 112-109 in a rare Saturday night home game for Toronto.

But they let the Raptors into the game in the second quarter as Toronto capitalized on second chance points, grabbing rebounds off misses.

“Twenty-one challenges, we’ve been able to separate each one individually and figure out different ways to win”, Curry told USA TODAY Sports. As noted by TSN’s Josh Lewenberg, opponents have actually outscored the Warriors when Curry has been on the bench (by a grand six points in 280 total minutes before the game against the Raptors, and by 12 in the 10 minutes he sat in Toronto).

Dating back to last season, the Warriors have reeled off 25 consecutive regular season wins. They play great team defense. “It’s about other stuff, life stuff”, Jack said Saturday after the Nets practiced in East Rutherford prepping for the 21-0 Golden State machine. Jack has had success before against Curry, including last season, when he hit the game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds left in Brooklyn on March 2. “But again those moments of truth, where a rebound, a box out, loose ball… layups, free throws, whatever it is – you have to make those plays in those moments to beat a great team”.

Stephen Curry poured in 44 points, while Klay Thompson added 26. “We’re gonna compete tonight, I promise you that“, said coach Dwane Casey before the game. “We’re very comfortable and expect to win every night”.

However, Lowry went toe-to-toe with the league’s best player and wasn’t far off matching his efforts. Center Hassan Whiteside added seven points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

“It’s tough, especially when the game came down to a couple of mistakes that we made”.

“It’s going to be a struggle sometimes”, interim coach Luke Walton said.

Guard Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 23 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

The Raptors held a 98-95 lead, but an incredible pull-up 3-point shot by Curry tied the game.

Reigning MVP Stephen Curry had a game-high 44 points, including nine three-pointers, to lead the team to victory.

“Kyle’s one of the best point guards in the league”, said DeMar DeRozan.

They trailed just 83-79 with a quarter left to play, and scraped out a one-point lead with just under five minutes to go on a spectacular sequence that saw a Lowry three-pointer, a DeRozan layup, and a Lowry layup.

Curry made both his free throws and Toronto turned over the ball with 3.3 seconds to play.

Curry scored 21 of his 34 points after halftime in that one and Andre Iguodala, who has gone scoreless in two of his last three, hit a clutch 3-pointer in the extra period to lift Golden State.

Golden State led 59-49 at the break, but Lowry scored 13 in the third to help Toronto slice its deficit to four heading into the final period.

The Warriors’ lead was cut to 76-73 in the third quarter when Nogueira put in a dunk with 2:52 left.

The Raptors roared back in the second, opening the frame with a 22-9 crun apped by a DeRozan dunk that gave them their first lead since early in the first. When we have 10, 11, 12 turnovers for the game, we usually can rest our starters in the fourth quarter.

The Raptors also played a tight game at Golden State on November 17, losing 115-110.