Toronto lose 4th straight, Warriors win

Sunday, 14 March 2010 08:20 PM Adrian Dy

At this rate, Chris Bosh and company might find themselves on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoffs, looking in.

The Toronto Raptors (32-32) lost their fourth straight game and find themselves in the eighth spot of the Eastern Conference Playoffs, just a game and a half ahead of the idle Chicago Bulls, thanks to a loss to the Golden State Warriors (18-47), 124-112.

The loss put the Raptors at .500, with just 18 games left in the season. The Warriors meanwhile have the third worst record in the league and have lost 8 of their last ten.

Rookie Stephen Curry led all scorers with 35 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists, while Monta Ellis scored 31, and had 4 boards and assists. Both of them sank 5 triples a piece and shot better than 50 percent. The two often found each other on the fast break, making Ellis' off-season comments that the two could not play alongside each other a tad ironic, at least for this game.

Chris Bosh led the Raptors with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. He also had 5 assists and a block, but his team high 6 turnovers helped fuel the Warriors' 25 fast break points. Jose Calderon added 24 points and 12 assists off the bench, and rookie DeMar DeRozan chipped in 18 markers.

The Raptors actually led after two quarters, 56-60, but Golden State hit 7 triples in the third quarter, part of a 41-25 run that put them on top for good.

After the game, Bosh criticized his team, saying, "if you look at the schedule right now and see Toronto, I'm sure people are checking something in the win box." Ironically, since his return after an injury, the Raptors have dropped four straight games. Prior to the injury, the team had gone 8-2 in the months of January and February and could have contended for the fourth spot in the conference playoff seedings.

Half of the Raptors' remaining schedule is on the road, though they will play Chicago in the last week of the regular season, which may determine which team will get the chance to play the presumptive number one seed Cleveland Cavaliers.

GAME NOTES:

The Raptors lost the game despite shooting better from the field (.566 versus .474) and having more assists (31-22). The Warriors however, managed to get 19 more possessions, thanks in part to 7 less turnovers.
The Warriors made 16 triples, 2 short of their franchise record. They did however, shoot nearly 60 percent from beyond the arc.
Since missing a game in Philadelphia last March 7, forward Hedo Turkoglu of the Raptors has yet to score in double digits, nor has he played for more than 29 minutes.
Chris Bosh is only 31 points away from becoming the Toronto Raptors' first player to reach 10,000 points while playing for the franchise.

Scores:
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 124 : S. Curry - 35, M. Ellis - 31, C. Maggette - 20, R. Williams - 12, A. Morrow - 11, C. Watson -7, C. Hunter - 4, A. Tolliver - 4
TORONTO RAPTORS 112 : C. Bosh - 24, J. Calderon - 24, D. DeRozan - 18, A. Johnson - 14, A. Bargnani - 11, S. Weems - 10, J. Jack - 7, H. Turkoglu - 4, M. Belinelli - 0, A. Wright - 0

Quarter Scoring:
25 - 35, 56 - 60, 97 - 85, 124 - 112

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