NBA: OT spectacle! Raptors survive 51-point gala of Durant

The Toronto Raptors won against the Golden State Warriors despite a scoring gala by Kevin Durant. In the 131-128 win (BOXSCORE), KD and Kawhi Leonard fought a hot duel, with the claw having much more support than the reigning final MVP. Durant forced the extension with a wild fadeaway triad, but there the Raptors had the last word.

As expected, the Warriors had to give up Stephen Curry and Draymond Green once again, while the hosts were on their way to the top. Toronto were very quick and scored seven of the first nine throws, which forced Warriors coach Steve Kerr to a quick time-out (17:6).

Every Raptors starter had scored, and Kawhi Leonard could score at will after switches against Damian Jones. The claw nailed one jumper after the other into the basket and the warriors needed another timeout (32:14). But thanks to Kevin Durant, the Dubs responded with a 9-0 run, because the Raptor reservists could not maintain the high level of the team at first. Nevertheless, the hosts had a 38-25 lead after a quarter.

But Toronto’s second suit didn’t really fit, it took a long time to run systems, it hail some ball losses. But since the champion without Durant also generated only little offense, the lead levelled off at 13 points. But now it was again a scoring duel between Kawhi (already 22 points) and KD (20), who also often defended each other. Toronto still led with 67:58.

The second half then began again like in the first quarter, the Raptors start with a run. Pascal Siakam sunk his third threesome and was still without failing. It took a while for the Dubs to recover, but Klay Thompson pushed the gap back into the single digits with two threes. Durant then hit with the siren from the logo and was already at 38 points (18 in the third quarter). With 96:88 it went into the final section.

Nevertheless, the Raptors played too wildly, did not grip the ring properly and so Kevon Looney brought the Warriors 1:40 before the end by Tip-In back to 2 points (114:112). But Leonard answered from the middle distance over KD, who dropped a point from the Charity Stripe shortly after. Kyle Lowry increased from a distance, but Durant followed suit and also turned two threes, including a fadeaway from the corner over Kawhi to equalise at 8.6 seconds on the clock. The Raptors couldn’t get a throw off – overtime!

The Raptors had a better start there thanks to Siakam and Serge Ibaka, but Durant was back on the scene and levelled out. On the other side there was Green from outside again, Siakam added free throws. The Dubs had to foul and sent Siakam to the Charity Stripe again and the Forward made only one of them. But the rebound was with Leonard and afterwards Siakam made it better (131:125), the matter was 14 seconds before the end finally through.

Leonard scored a total of 37 points (14/24) and grabbed 8 rebounds, most of them in the final phase. Siakam (26, 8/10 FG) and Ibaka (20, 8/13 FG) provided important support, while Lowry (10, 12 Assists) once again recorded a double-double. Among the Warriors, Durant scratched his Career High (54) with 51 counts (18/31 FG, 4/7 Threes, 11/12 FT, 11 Rebounds, 6 Assists), while Thompson (23) and Jonas Jerebko (20, 8/13 FG) were the only other Dubs actors in Double Figures.

Toronto Raptors (19-4) vs. Golden State Warriors (15-8) 131:128 OT (BOXSCORE)

Kawhi Leonard (Raptors): “Of course we beat the champion today, but it’s not even December yet. We have to keep going.”

Kevin Durant (Warriors): “I just want to play as well as possible. Due to our outages I may have to do a little more at the moment, but otherwise we prefer to move the ball as a team. But of course there are also games like today where it is important that I score. We were behind early today, so I had to be aggressive.”

Kawhi Leonard. Sometimes the star of the Raptors exaggerated it with his iso-plays, but whoever hits is right. After a hot start (6/6 FG) the Warriors adjusted their defense a bit, but they couldn’t stop the claw from scoring. His offense eased a little towards the end, but in overtime he actually managed to annoy Durant a little by stopping his dribbling. It was equally important that Kawhi was active in the fourth quarter and extra time under the boards, where Toronto had previously had enormous problems.

Damian Jones. In principle, the center was not playable and coach Kerr noticed it quite quickly. After three minutes in the second half (a total of 11), the Big Man was finished. The Raptors attacked the Big in the early stages of almost every possession by isolating him from Leonard after switches on the three-way line. This could then switch and rule as desired. 2 points, 0 rebounds, 2 fouls, 1 turnover and a plus-minus of -20 were recorded for Jones.

The Raptors had another chance at the end of the fourth quarter to decide the game earlier and wanted a switch that would allow Leonard to go to work against a smaller defender. But the Warriors smelled the roast and coach Kerr put Andre Iguodala against Lowry, who then switched to Kawhi. So Leonard had no advantage after the pick and had to pass instead. Ibaka couldn’t get any more litters out of it afterwards.