Kuminga returns, but Warriors routed by Raptors in first game without Butler
SAN FRANCISCO — De’Anthony Melton heaved the ball over Moses Moody’s head and out of bounds, Brandin Podziemski had his pocket picked by Gradey Dick and the Warriors watched as a desperation attempt missed the rim as the shot clock expired.
Inside Chase Center, where there were more empty seats than usual, the crowd groaned.
Three consecutive possessions in the second quarter said it all in the Warriors’ first game without Jimmy Butler.
It was a struggle to manufacture anything offensively in a 145-127 rout against the Raptors that was out of hand by halftime. If the offense wasn’t ugly enough, Golden State offered little resistance against Toronto’s combination of speed, size and athleticism, allowing the Raptors to shoot 59.3% to their 51.6%.
Stephen Curry scored 16 points in three quarters and Golden State got double-digit contributions from five others as the Warriors attempted to fill the shoes of Butler, who was ruled out for the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL in the third quarter of Monday’s 135-112 win over the Miami Heat.
It wasn’t enough firepower to overcome the deep early hole they dug for themselves, falling behind by as many as 30 points and trailing 70-50 at halftime. Without Butler’s ability to slow the game down, they committed 18 turnovers that led to 34 Toronto points, outscored 21-5 on fast breaks.
A late charge led by Jonathan Kuminga, in his first playing time since Dec. 18, ignited the crowd and kept the game competitive in the second half. Buddy Hield, who finished with a team-best 25 points, connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to pull the Warriors within 125-116 with 5:02 to play, but that was as close as they would get.
Curry took a seat with 4:09 left in the third quarter and didn’t return to the game.
Kerr said before tipoff that he expected Kuminga to be ready to play if called upon, and the 23-year-old forward saw his first action in almost a month to begin the second quarter. After Kerr rotated through 11 players in the first quarter, he turned to Kuminga, who received a tepid applause with some fans standing to their feet.
Kuminga played 21 minutes over two stints, grabbed five rebounds and finished with 20 points. He missed his first two foul shots but made up for it by completing back-to-back three-point plays late in the third quarter in what amounted to one of the Warriors’ best stretches of the night.
Golden State trailed 94-68 when Kuminga grabbed a rebound and drew a foul with a little more than 4 minutes to play in the period. Kuminga scored 10 points as the Warriors went on a 26-14 run to end the quarter, capped by Kuminga going end-to-end for a buzzer-beating layup to cut the deficit to 108-94.
Officials waved off a layup by Hield as the first half ended, but it would made little difference as Golden State went into the locker room already trailing 70-50. Curry, the lone Warrior in double figures by halftime, needed 13 attempts to score 12 points, finishing 6-for-16 from the field.
Meanwhile, Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes combined for 32 first-half points while shooting 12-of-16 from the field. Quickley finished with a game-high 40 points to go with 10 assists, Barnes (26 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds) ended up three rebounds shy of a triple-double and Brandon Ingram added 22 points.
The Raptors converted their first five attempts from the field while forcing four straight Warriors misses — three from Draymond Green — to jump out to a 10-0 lead. They extended the early advantage to 41-28 at the end of the quarter and widened it as far as 28 points before halftime.