‘Warriors WrapUp’: Phenomenal first quarter helps do in Raptors 121-111; Warriors’ defense down stretch impressive, offense not so much; Durant, the (over) passer

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Steinmetz

The Warriors might have trouble with the best team in the Eastern Conference — the Cleveland Cavaliers — but they don’t have much difficulty with Toronto, the conference’s second-best team.

The Warriors beat the Raptors 121-111 on Wednesday at Oracle Arena, their 12th straight win in a row in Oakland and sixth straight overall against Toronto. The Warriors may have played their best quarter of the season when they took a 42-17 lead after 12 minutes. The Raptors whittled it down to five in the second and fourth quarters but the game never turned into a real nail-biter.

Link to “Warriors WrapUp,” the postgame radio show on 95.7-FM The Game.

Among the topics:

–Great start and a very so-so finish for the Warriors, on offense anyway. The Warriors missed 10 consecutive shots and committed two turnovers in the final five minutes, but they got away with it. They got away with it because, as usual, their defense was spectacular when it counted.

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Kevin Durant right on the money with his criticism of the NBA over its ‘last two-minute’ reports

Posted on December 27, 2016 by Steinmetz

Gotta tell you, I really liked what Kevin Durant had to say about the “last two-minute” reports earlier today.

Durant was asked about the reports, which acknowledge officiating mistakes in the final two minutes of a game. It’s the NBA’s version of officiating transparency and it admits potentially game-changing errors by the refs.

As it pertains to the Warriors, the league affirmed LeBron James should have received a technical foul for hanging on the rim, and Richard Jefferson should have been called for a foul against Durant in the closing seconds.

Said Durant: “They should get rid of it. Our refs don’t deserve that. They’re trying their hardest to get the plays right, and then you look at a play in slo-mo and say it’s wrong? I think it’s (B.S.) that they do that. It’s full of (s**t) that you throw the refs under the bus like that after the game, like it matters.

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Warriors haven’t been in a lot of crunch-time situations this season, but they haven’t done well when they have been

Posted on December 27, 2016 by Steinmetz

At 27-5, the Warriors haven’t had a lot of games that have come down to crunch time. But in the few they’ve had, they haven’t done particularly well — at the offensive end at least. We’re still talking about a championship-quality team here so that doesn’t mean they’ve necessarily lost these games. Nope, in most of them their defense — i.e. Draymond Green — came through.

Still, with a team boasting three prolific scorers and one uniquely versatile power forward, you’d figure the Warriors would be a little better scoring when a game is on the line. Then again, they don’t have a lot of games that come down to the final minute or two. So they don’t get a lot of practice on them.

We all know this version of the Warriors is only 32 games in. They’re bound to get more cohesive at the offensive end as the season goes on. So, if you’re looking for a little optimism after the killer loss to Cleveland, how about this: The Warriors are likely to get a lot better at the offensive end in tight games.

By the way, you’re definition and my definition of crunch time may differ. Were there games when the Warriors needed a bucket at crucial times and got it? Sure. But these particular games were a possession or two from getting a different result.

And also, whether it was skill or luck, last year the Warriors got some breaks on the way to 73 wins.

Let’s take a closer look:

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Posted in Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, New Orleans Pelicans, Warriors | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment