Toronto beats the odds in improbable comeback win over Golden State
Grit is not something that can be taught, it is a quality that someone either has, or doesn’t have. The ability to be faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, and keep fighting, and ultimately achieve your goal is special, and that is what Toronto did against Golden State yesterday. When it seemed like they could not overcome Stephen Curry’s onslaught, and that this game would just be another addition to the loss column, the Dinos collected themselves and fought to win the game.
Scottie Barnes had a historic monster game as he finished with a triple double with a statline of 23 points and 25 rebounds, as well as 10 assists. Golden State is notorious for running small ball lineups, sacrificing size for speed and versatility, and this was the catalyst that made a night like this possible for Barnes. With Golden State switching plenty of their actions, or leaving the smaller Draymond Green on Barnes, he was able to crash the glass whenever he felt like it, and come up with the rebound more often than not.
Barnes never let Golden State off the hook for their puny interior defenders, he mashed his way into the paint both as a creator and as an off-ball guy and put in rim attempt after rim attempt. Only one of Barnes’ makes were outside the paint, and only two of those paint shots were not in the restricted area, this was the type of shot diet that you always want to see from Barnes, and he did not let down yesterday.
Curry dropped 39 points, and Toronto was trying their darndest to contain him but with all his constant movement all over the floor, he would sometimes wiggle free from whoever was tasked with guarding the sniper. Ochai Agbaji, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Jamal Shead all had their crack at Curry and the game plan is one that Curry has probably seen countless times in his career. They were top locking him, face guarding him, and just trying to be extremely sticky when he was involved in the action, and even with this he would still find a way to get that inch of space he needed to fire a triple and knock it down.
You can somewhat excuse the three-point shooting, but Toronto was letting Curry beat them backdoor for layups, which is just unfathomable. Curry had his way with everyone who was guarding him, and it seemed like this would be too much for Toronto to fight through.
Late in the 4th, Curry shook free from Shead’s grasp, received a handoff from Green, and fired up a moonball over the outstretched arm of Barnes to extend Golden State’s lead to 7 with a score of 120-113. After this triple you could feel the air leave the arena, but for Toronto, this game was far from over. What followed this was perhaps the most cohesive and tough this team has looked this season, as they proceeded to take turns uplifting Toronto out of this hole.
Barnes was found on the low block for a slam after he backed Will Richard down to the ground. Brandon Ingram dashed to the elbow and rose up for his patented mid-range jumper, 120-117. Ingram was trying to work his magic again against Jimmy Butler, but Butler forced him toward the corner where Brandon Podziemski slid over for the help and allowed Immanuel Quickley to sprint to the open space along the arc and knock down a triple to tie the game at 120-120.
Ingram, trying to be Toronto’s late-game savior yet again put up a contested triple for the lead which missed, but then like a bat out of hell, Barnes ran to the rim, muscling Butler out of his way and got the put-back layup to fall and got this game knotted up again at 122-122. Shead drew a foul on Curry before he could get up a shot to potentially win the game, and then Ingram missed a potential game-winner as well so it was time for an extra five minutes of basketball.
Overtime was where Toronto was finally able to separate from Golden State and secure this victory. It was apparent that Toronto had more energy than this older Golden State squad and it showed. Barnes had a possession where he got numerous offensive rebounds and just kept firing the ball out for second chances for his squad, he was not going to let this one slip by them.
It was a 21-5 run between the 4th quarter and overtime that powered this Raptors comeback, and it was a true cohesive effort by Toronto which let them win this game. Ingram and Quickley had crucial shot-making down the stretch, Barnes was a monster on the glass and in the paint, RJ Barrett made his return and gave you a little taste of what he was doing earlier in the year, and Ja’Kobe Walter made a real case for more minutes as his shot-making was also key.
Toronto snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and for a team that seemed like it was reeling over the last few weeks, this win has an extra special taste to it.
The post Toronto beats the odds in improbable comeback win over Golden State first appeared on Raptors Republic.