Durant, Warriors Blow Big Lead; Hold Off Raptors
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Golden State Warriors played one of their most dominant quarters to start the game, building a 25-point lead. Then, there were turnovers and second chances for Toronto and they had to hold off the Raptors at the end.
Kevin Durant had 22 points, matched his season best with 17 rebounds, and added seven assists and five blocks as the Warriors beat the Raptors 121-111 on Wednesday night.
Stephen Curry added 28 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, and Klay Thompson scored 21 points for Golden State, which showed that if you make these Warriors a little mad one game, they might just play far better the next.
They did just that, for a stretch.
"We're still getting wins," Thompson said. "That's all that matters."
Upset with themselves for blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter to lose 109-108 at Cleveland in an NBA Finals rematch on Christmas Day, they took it out on Toronto three days later.
DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points and became Toronto's career scoring leader (10,290), passing Chris Bosh's 10,275 points, but the Raptors had their franchise-record, seven-game road winning streak snapped.
Curry, Durant and Thompson scored 20 or more points each in the same game for the 11th time.
Golden State dished out 30 or more assists for an NBA-best 22nd time and shot 56.8 percent in a 12th straight home win against Toronto.
Curry's snazzy behind-the-back pass to Thompson for a 3-pointer late in the third put the Warriors up 95-75, but they had to deliver late. Curry rebounded a missed 3 by Durant and converted two key free throws with 2:04 to go, then Durant blocked a shot by DeRozan on the other end. He blocked another shot in the final seconds.
Golden State has now gone 119 straight regular-season games without losing back-to-back contests since April 2015 and has won 15 in a row after a defeat, going 5-0 this season.
Andre Iguodala scored in double figures off the bench for the seventh time this season with 11 points, making all five of his shots.
Golden State made nine of its first 10 shots with a pair of 3s by Thompson, a long 28-footer by Curry and another from Durant to jump to a 22-4 lead. The Raptors called their second timeout with 7:40 left in the first.
"We put ourselves in a hole, we dug our way out of it, but we didn't have enough to finish it," Toronto's Kyle Lowry said.
Toronto started the second with a 19-6 spurt to get back within 12 but the Warriors closed the half on a 16-4 run to lead 72-55 at the break.
"It was the most bizarre box score I've ever seen at halftime," coach Steve Kerr said.
TIP-INS
Raptors: Coach Dwane Casey was still feeling the effects of the flu a day later but much better. ... The Raptors are 11-4 on the road, 0-3 vs. the Pacific Division.
Warriors: Golden State's 42 points in the first period were its most this season and its NBA-leading seventh 40-point quarter. The Warriors shot 72 percent (18 for 25). ... The Warriors had 33 assists to 20 turnovers.
DEROZAN'S RECORD
Casey couldn't be happier with how DeRozan represents the franchise.
"I think he's grown in every aspect of his game except probably his 3-point shooting, but he's probably one of the best in-between shooters in the league," Casey said. "He's one of those guys that he's always brought something new to the table each and every year. I couldn't think of anybody who deserves that honor or record or whatever you want to call it more than DeMar. I think he's the face of our franchise. He represents it in a first-class way."
UP NEXT
Raptors: Play the second game of a back-to-back at Phoenix on Thursday, the fourth stop of a six-game road trip.
Warriors: Host Dallas on Friday in the second game of a stretch with 10 of 11 at home and the only road game at Sacramento on Jan. 8 — so the Warriors don't get on a plane again until Jan. 19. They have won four in a row against Dallas, eight straight at Oracle Arena.
