Philadelphia, Pa — The Toronto Raptors have been very impressive this season. They not only have the best record in the NBA, but they’ve been the class of the NBA . Currently the team has a record of 12-5, along with home-record of 11-4.
They’ve won 7 of their last 12 games, are currently riding a 2 losing streak. Onee of those wins being against the NBA Champs Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. With the win the Raptors win the season series against the Warriors.
If you’re a supporter of the Raptors don’t waste your time rewarding the Raptors for their season sweep of the defending champions, as Steph Curry had some choice words for the Raptors after last night’s 113-93 defeat according to Yahoo Sports.
“We’ll remember what it’s like playing against them, but it’s 0-0 from here,” Curry told Yahoo Sports. “The sweep doesn’t mean nothing in terms of when the lights are the brightest on the biggest stage in the playoffs. Everything’s different. We’ll remember how tonight was. It’s a tough vibe, but they don’t get any extra points if we were to face them in the Finals.”
Unlike the Raptors, the Warriors have been short of impressive this season. The Warriors have struggled on the road this season, with a 7-7 road record, and were 3rd in the west, before the Thunder’s 118-114 loss last night to the New Orleans Pelicans.
“It’s a different vibe, a different feeling when you’re on the climb like Toronto is and Milwaukee is like we were a few years ago,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s harder to get up for each game. There are certain nights where you can just feel it; you don’t have that energy. It’s not an excuse. It’s just reality.”
The Raptors have become one of the biggest surprises of this early NBA season. A large number of trades during offseason of the NBA has left uncertainty regarding the playoffs. Although the Raptors traded for and upgraded their team with the addition of Kawhi Leonard, based on reports there were expectations that Kawhi wouldn’t mesh well in Toronto, due to the fact he never wanted to play in Toronto to begin with. Kawhi has stepped in along with Danny Green, and the Raptors have played with impressive dominance.
In the Warriors defense, they’ve battled with injuries, and distractions. There was the Drammond Green and Kevin Durant incident which took place weeks ago, and the Warriors lost Drammond Green to a toe injury, and missed Steph Curry for multiple games before he returned on Dec 2nd, against the Detroit Pistons.
The Warriors free agent signing in the Offseason Demarcus Cousins has yet to play a game this season, as Cousins is still recovering from an ACL injury he suffered last season as a member of the New Orleans Pelicans. Many NBA experts and writers feel Cousins return will drastically help the Warriors look as dominant as most have anticipated. Before the ACL injury, Cousins averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game.