Make it five losses in a row for Toronto as even the Steph Curry-less Golden State Warriors had their way with the struggling Raptors.
Any positivity gained in that last-shot loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday was lost in the first half of a 126-110 defeat on Sunday night.
No Curry, out with a shoulder injury. No Andrew Wiggins, out with a groin strain, and a Golden State team that has won all of two games of 16 on the road this season, should have been a clear edge for the Raptors.
It wasn’t.
Considering the Raptors had lost four in a row coming into the night for the first time since the tank season when they lost the final seven, which eventually led to some lottery luck when Scottie Barnes was welcomed in to the fold.
The Raptors were coming off a win-worthy performance on Friday before Kyrie Irving snatched it from them.
Yes, Gary Trent Jr. and OG Anunoby were still out of the starting rotation as were Otto Porter Jr. and Precious Achiuwa sapping some of that bench strength, but then the Warriors were a little banged up too.
In Curry’s absence, and with the Raptors refusing to give Klay Thompson much breathing space at all, the onus fell on Jordan Poole and he answered the bell in a big way leading the Warriors to the rather easy-looking win.
Poole had 25 in the first half, two shy of his career high set in Boston last season and just 13 shy of his caeer-high for a game. He clearly had that mark in mind heading into the second quarter as he was already up to 34 by the end of the third.
Poole would set his new career high with a three-pointer just under four minutes into the final frame. He would finish the game with 43, his new personal high, along with six assists in the game.
Fred VanVleet, once again, was forced into the role of scorer without many other options on the floor for Toronto.
Pascal Siakam did his thing with 27 points and six assists, taking 20 shots, while VanVleet hoisted up 18 on his way to a 22-point evening.
Barnes, much better these past few games in terms of being engaged offensively, had 17 points on 16 shots.
As a team, the Warriors shot 54% from the field and were good on almost half of their 38 three-point attempts, settling for a 46% success rate from beyond the arc.
If there is a light at the end of this tunnel for the Raptors, it’s the expected return of O.G. Anunoby at some point this week. Anunoby’s all-around game has been missed since he strained a hip in the first of two games in Orlando.
But his missing defence in particular has left the Raptors wanting. The Warriors are just the latest team to come into Scotiabank Arena and score at will.
The Raptors now head out on the road for three games before a short Christmas break. So far this season the Raptors are 3-11 in road games.
INJURY UPDATE: Shooting guard Trent Jr. missed his second consecutive game with thigh problems in both legs. “It doesn’t look like it’s getting much better,” head coach Nick Nurse said. “I think they’re searching for more information at this point.”
mganter@postmedia.com
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