Raptors deal with weakened Warriors earlier than half-capacity crowd

A bizarre vibe, odd rosters, a minuscule crowd — all frequent reminders of the perilous and troubled instances through which we dwell.

It was an NBA recreation performed between NBA franchises in an NBA enviornment on Saturday evening, however to recommend the Raptors in opposition to the Golden State Warriors was a real show {of professional} males’s basketball on the highest stage from the most effective league on the planet could be false.

The Raptors positioned two key gamers — Pascal Siakam and Dalano Banton — within the NBA’s {health} and security protocols about an hour earlier than tipoff; the Warriors rested six of their high seven gamers and put a G League-worthy roster on the courtroom.

It was NBA basketball in identify alone.

That the Raptors gained 119-100 — earlier than a restricted viewers introduced at 7,988, for the primary recreation since Scotiabank Area was lower to half-capacity — would hardly be thought-about a shock for the reason that Warriors had been with out Steph Curry, Draymond Inexperienced, Andrew Wiggins, Andre Iguodala and Jordan Poole, none of whom even got here throughout the border. Solely Poole was in protocols. The others had been out for both relaxation or damage rehab.

Not coming to Toronto is sensible. There was no have to danger testing constructive in Canada and dealing with border-crossing restrictions if the gamers had been by no means going to play anyway. The Warriors performed in Boston on Friday.

“The last couple of days everything was sort of up in the air, especially with the testing,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr mentioned earlier than the sport. “We weren’t sure how many people were going to pass the test, so there was a lot up in the air.”

Siakam and Banton had been late scratches and will miss 10 days beneath the protocols, which might take them out of the lineup by means of the subsequent three video games and permit them to play in Toronto on Dec. 28 in opposition to the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Raptors had primarily escaped the rash of constructive checks which can be ravaging the NBA proper now. Valuable Achiuwa was beneath protocols put in place by the native {health} board when he missed three video games after he was deemed to have had shut contact with somebody who returned a constructive take a look at.

The truth of the time definitely solid a considerably sombre temper over what would usually have been a raucous sellout crowd of about 20,000. Followers had been reminded repeatedly that mask-wearing was necessary and people not carrying them would face ejection.

It was odd. However the instances are what the instances are.

“All of this brings a little level of disappointment: the fans, the extra protocols, who you’re playing, who you’re not,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse mentioned earlier than the sport. “Seems like it’s going to be like this every game for a bit … I’m still waiting on word if we’re going to Chicago (to play the Bulls on Wednesday).

“All the things coming up are going to look like this for a while, so you keep your level of disappointment at bay and get to work, and do what we can do.”

What the Raptors did was stand up shortly on the undermanned Warriors and by no means allow them to get into the sport.

Led by Fred VanVleet (27 factors, 12 assists and 7 rebounds) and Scottie Barnes (21 factors and 6 assists) the Raptors led from begin to end. OG Anunoby returned after lacking 13 video games with a hip pointer and had seven factors in 28 minutes.

Contemplating the final time Golden State performed in Toronto was in Sport 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, the Warriors needed to discover Saturday notably odd. Just one participant on Saturday evening’s workforce — Kevon Looney – was lively for the June 2019 Warriors win.

“I was sad to hear that (attendance limits), but it’s understandable,” Kerr mentioned. “We are just trying to do whatever we can to make sure we keep the league going, and we are going to support whatever the NBA and cities decide to do.

“One of the great things about this season has been feeling the energy again and feeling the crowds back and the love for the game. We’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks, but we’re all crossing our fingers.”