No Bogut? No Ezeli? No Problem! Golden State Warriors Roar Past Raptors

It was an exciting night at Oracle Arena, between the best team in the west and the best team in the east. The Golden State Warriors rolled past the Toronto Raptors on Friday night in a 126-105 victory. The Warriors improved to 26-5 on the season, behind an incredible performance from Draymond Green, who had his first career triple-double with 16 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds.

Stephen Curry also contributed 32 points, 12 assists and five rebounds. And how can you forget “Mo Buckets”, Marreese Speights, who headlined the night as well with 26 points and eight rebounds. It was a true team effort in tonight’s win.

Many feared this would be a tough game with no one to defend Toronto’s big man Jonas Valanciunas. But the Warriors held Valanciunas to eight points and zero rebounds. Speights, with help from Harrison Barnes and Green, were able to to keep the seven-footer out of the paint most of the night.

January 2, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) shoots the basketball against the Toronto Raptors during the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Raptors 126-105. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The Warriors opened the game with back-to-back threes from Green and Curry, and that would fuel an exciting up-and-down first quarter between the two teams. Speights scored 10 of his 26 points in nine minutes in the first quarter, Green also scored 10 in the first as well and hit two threes after being in a 7-for-31 drought from beyond the arc.

The Splash Brothers also contributed in the quarter with seven points each to help lead the Warriors to a 40-31 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Although the Warriors had an explosive first, so did Kyle Lowry who had 14 points in the first as well. Lowry was a key contributor to keeping Toronto in the game.

The Warriors started the second quarter shooting 0-for-4 before David Lee hit a 13-foot jump shot to stop the bleeding as Toronto got to within four, two and half minutes into the quarter. After Lee made his jumper, the Warriors extended their lead to 14 points before Toronto came back with a 21-5 run to take the lead. The Warriors finished the quarter strong and took a 66-61 lead into the half.

To open the third, the Warriors went on a 21-5 run of their own to take a 17-point lead over the Raptors. Then, the Warriors would continue to dominate in the quarter by jumping out to a 23-point lead with 4:48 left in the quarter. In the midst of the beautiful offense, Curry had the dunk of his life on a fast break and posterized Lowry at the other end off an Andre Iguodala steal.

Despite all the offense the Warriors had in the third quarter, the Raptors wouldn’t go away, as they cut the Warriors’ 23-point lead down to 13 by the end of the quarter.

It was more of the same in the fourth for Golden State, who had their lead cut down to 11 with 4:48 left in the game, but they would go on a 14-0 run to seal the deal on the Raptors.

The Warriors’ next game is Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Oracle Arena.

Next: Warriors Still One Big Man Away