Barnes leaves with injury as Warriors tame Raptors
Hundreds of fans waited by the tunnel, waving Golden State Warriors jerseys to be signed by Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson. More held up cellphones, trying to get a photo of their basketball heroes.
If it wasn’t for the Toronto Raptors logo at centre court, Scotiabank Arena could have passed for San Francisco’s Chase Center.
Curry had 25 points on seven three-pointers to lead Golden State past the Raptors 120-105 on Friday as Toronto all-star Scottie Barnes left the game early with a broken hand. Curry embraced Raptors alumni Charles Oakley on the court after pulling down six rebounds and six assists to help the Warriors win their third straight.
“It’s always great to have a pseudo-homecoming kind of vibe here,” said Curry, who lived in Toronto from 1999 to 2002 when his father, Dell Curry, played for the Raptors. “A lot of great years, a lot of great memories.
“It’s cool to see Oak here, being honoured and whatnot. Toronto’s a special place for my family, my journey and I always love coming back.”
Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov followed Thompson up the tunnel to the locker room as fans called out “Klay! Klay!” to try and get the former all-star’s attention for an autograph or a photo.
“Dub nation comes out when we go on the road,” said Draymond Green, who finished with six points and 13 rebounds. “It’s always special when you can get that home feeling, even when you’re on the road.
“And look no further than the Steph Curry effect. Play with Steph, you get a lot of that.”
Curry also had six rebounds and six assists for the Warriors (32-27). Jonathan Kuminga had 24 points for Golden State (3227) and Moses Moody added 17.
The Warriors had significant delays flying from New York to Toronto after a 110-99 victory over the Knicks on Thursday. Golden State head coach Steve Kerr said the win underscored the mental toughness of his squad.
“Fantastic win. I mean, last night was brutal,” said Kerr. “That’s the worst travel circumstances I’ve ever been involved with in the NBA.
“I think we got in bed at 8 o’clock this morning.”
RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., had 23 points for Toronto (22-38), with four assists and three rebounds. Barnes did not return to the court after intermission. He had 10 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes of play before his night ended.
The Raptors announced after the game that Barnes had fractured the third metacarpal bone in his left hand during the game.
“Obviously when you lose an all-star player in the game, that definitely changes a lot of things,” said Toronto head coach Darko Rajakovic. “We tried with different lineups, different players tonight, gave multiple players opportunities there.”
That included running centres Jakob Poeltl and Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops at the same time. Both earned double-doubles as Poeltl had 10 points and matched a season-best 14 rebounds, while Olynyk had 16 points and 10 boards off the bench.