The Golden State Warriors are happy to be home after an unsuccessful road trip and their first guests Monday are the struggling Toronto Raptors.
The Warriors went 1-4 on a recent swing east and it ended poorly. Golden State lost its last four, but there were interesting moments along the way.
In Indiana on Tuesday, the Warriors and Pacers got a little skirmish that cost David Lee a game. That came on Wednesday against the Knicks in Madison Square Garden, where Steph Curry went off for 54 points on 11 made 3-pointers in yet another loss.
On Saturday, the Warriors squandered a 16-point lead and fell to the Philadelphia 76ers. Curry was spectacular in the first half and finished with 30, while Klay Thompson added 29. Lee had his NBA-best 39th double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
But the Warriors let one slip thanks to 20 turnovers.
"We got away from what we are," said Warriors coach Mark Jackson afterward. "We made mistakes, let go of the rope and paid the price. We were bad."
Warriors fans can take solace in knowing that Golden State has the most remaining home games of any team in the NBA with 16 of their last 22 at Oracle Arena. They own the ninth-best home mark in the league at 18-7 and Curry's career average of 27.6 ppg against the Raptors is his best scoring mark against a single team.
The Raptors have struggled of late. They've dropped four in a row and Monday's game will be the second of a four-game road trip. They lost to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, then have the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers still to come.
Against the Bucks, Toronto was without Rudy Gay, the team's leading scorer who sat with back spasms. The Raptors took it to overtime before falling, 122-114.
"I loved our fight with Rudy being out," Toronto's head coach Dwane Casey said. "Our guys are pulling together, pulling for each other."
Seven Raptors scored in double figures, led by 21 off the bench from Alan Anderson. Kyle Lowry had a triple-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
"They executed their plays in that overtime very well," Lowry said. "They jumped out to a 6-0 lead in overtime and we kind of had to play catch up from there."
Gay is listed as day-to-day for the Warriors game. Landry Fields started in his place against the Bucks and played a team-high 47-plus minutes. He had 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
The Warriors defeated the Raptors 114-102 on Jan. 28 in Toronto. Gay didn't play in that game, but Toronto has struggled in Oakland. The Raptors have lost the last seven on the road in this series with their last victory coming on Feb. 8, 2004.
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