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OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors play at a breakneck pace. They score, score again, and score some more, lifting shots from all places on the floor and generally luring opponents into a helter-skelter game - emphasis on hell.
It's an entertaining style, even if it is sometimes ugly-entertaining, more ragged than artistic.
Without injured forward Chris Bosh, the Toronto Raptors were quite the opposite - think dump-and-chase hockey or smash-mouth football. For Toronto, possessions are at a premium and points are ruby rare; a race was the last thing the Raptors wanted.
Those styles collided before 19,596 at Oracle Arena on Wednesday and the result was a 117-106 victory for Golden State.
T.J. Ford looks to pass against Golden State Warriors' Al Harrington during the first quarter. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)
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"The first quarter just killed us," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said, citing fatigue from a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night. "We came out flat. That's normal, sometimes, on a back-to-back but against a team like this that can score the way they score, it's just tough."
The Raptors had a terrible start and trailed by as many as 20 points. But thanks to excellent shooting in the second half, they actually took a lead midway through the fourth quarter before some absent defence led to two lay-ups off long inbounds passes.
T.J. Ford had a second consecutive outburst in the fourth, netting 13 points to finish with a team-best 23. Ford made four of 10 shots in the final period.
"T.J. Ford seemed to make every shot, I mean, that guy was incredible for a long period of time," Warriors head coach Don Nelson said. "But in the fourth quarter Monta [Ellis] made all his shots and Ford didn't. We did a better job on him."
Anthony Parker added 22 points and nine rebounds, but again disappeared in the fourth quarter as Ford dominated the ball. One game after going without a shot in the fourth, he had just two points on two shots. Parker has been over 20 points heading into each of the last two fourth quarters.
"If we win, it doesn't matter to me," he said. "When the ball moves around, I think it is better. You get better looks, people feel more involved, and from a defensive standpoint, it keeps you on your heels instead of being able to attack because you know what is coming.
"We just have to find the balance between T.J. being able to do what he does. He did some good things. He did a lot of good things. He got to the basket and got to the free-throw line, but I think we can make it a little bit easier for him."
Ellis led all scorers with 33 and Baron Davis had 23 points and 15 assists. All five Warriors starters hit double digits in points.
"We just had no answer for guarding Monta," Mitchell said.
The Raptors have now dropped the first two of a five-game road trip through the American southwest.
The contrasting comfort levels in a free-flowing game were obvious in the first quarter.
Ellis split several Raptors for a transition layup when the numbers weren't in his favour. A few minutes later, Toronto's Parker was called for charging during a three-on-one fast break.
Before you knew it, the Warriors led 18-4. After one quarter, it was 35-17 - Toronto's largest first-quarter deficit of the season.
At the end, Golden State's dominance in the paint was evident: 54 points to Toronto's 30. The Warriors also had 23 fast-break points while the Raptors had but five.
The only clear advantage the Raptors had in this game was in the size department as Rasho Nesterovic and Andrea Bargnani, twins 7-footers, were going to be counted on to do some scoring inside.
Both were scoreless at the half, and their first field goal didn't come until five minutes into the third quarter. Bargnani picked it up early in the fourth, and finished with 14 points.
The Raptors actually took a 96-95 lead with 6:18 to play on a pair of Ford free-throws, but the Warriors scored the next eight points, which re-energized the crowd.
Prior to the game, Mitchell said it was fruitless for his side to try and play run-and-gun with the Warriors, who lead the NBA in scoring (111 points per game). Mitchell said the Raptors needed to rebound, score some points inside, and slow the tempo given that they were without Bosh (knee) for a seventh straight game.
"You've got to try and play the way you play and not try to match what they do," Mitchell said. "Once you have to go play the way they play it's going to be hard to beat them because they're used to that."
Golden State has three starters - Davis, Ellis and Stephen Jackson - who average more than 19 points whereas, minus Bosh, Toronto's leading scorer is Parker, who scores 12.5 per game.
"Without Chris, we don't have that one dominant guy who can score you 30," Mitchell said. "So we have to spread the ball, we have to pass the ball, and we have to throw the ball to whoever is open."
