Boucher’s monster fourth quarter was the difference.
The Toronto Raptors finally thrilled the hometown fans and sent them away happy with a thrilling 104-101 win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night.
Despite Stephen Curry’s 26 points and 20 from local product Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors couldn’t overcome the performances of Raptors franchise player Scottie Barnes (23 points) and Montreal’s own Chris Boucher, who had 17 of his 18 points in a spectacular fourth quarter.
Boucher found Ochai Agbaji for a slam dunk off a turnover with 39.8 seconds remaining to put the Raptors up by three, the team then secured a rebound and Barnes found Boucher for an open three-pointer, but the shot didn’t fall. That gave the Warriors 3.8 seconds to try to force overtime.
The Raptors forced Buddy Hield into an airball and a team that had lost 16-of-17 finally pulled one out.
“Right now, it feels really amazing,” said Boucher, who is on an epic run. “When I get the ball, it feels like, I’m at the right place, it’s the right shot. It’s also making the reads. I think I’m doing a lot better making the reads, not just shooting the ball, having the drive, making a pass, knowing when to take a short or not. And I think that’s really helping me right now. And it’s keeping me in a good groove where I know where my shots are coming from.”
The Raptors got bad news before the game even began, when head coach Darko Rajakovic revealed that Immanuel Quickley would not be able to play due to a hip issue. Quickley had already missed all but nine games this season due to various injuries and had only recently returned from his latest.
Toronto went with Davion Mitchell, one of the team’s top defenders, with Curry at the other end. Rajakovic said the hope was Quickley would not miss much time.
“He’s been dealing with his left hip soreness a little bit. It was nothing serious. He woke up this morning, it flared up,” Rajakovic said. “So our doctors had a chance to see him and he’s ruled out for (the game). We’ll have much more information (Wednesday) upon further evaluation.”
Golden State was also hobbled, with mercurial star Draymond Green, young wing Jonathan Kuminga, who averaged 21 points a game in December, struggling, but talented sophomore Brandin Podziemski and defensive guard Gary Payton II all out of the lineup.
The struggling Warriors came in with a .500 record, but a dismal 7-16 run over the last 23 games following a surprising 12-3 start had dampened all enthusiasm surrounding the team. You could feel it with Warriors coach Steve Kerr post-game as he talked about the performance.
“Just didn’t get good looks. Didn’t execute very well. Weren’t disciplined enough and that’s my fault. I’m the coach of the team. I have to find a way to help the team and I’m not doing a good job of that,” Kerr said.
“Down the stretch, we’re not executing and that’s happening throughout the game. Missed rotations, missed coverages on defence and then poor possessions offensively. It’s on me.
“This is as frustrating a night as we’ve had all season. This game was right there for us to win and we let them get right back in it.”
Toronto led 28-26, held Golden State to 33% shooting from the field, while shooting 50% after a quarter and by two at halftime. Toronto made two more three-pointers than its opponent through two quarters — a rarity this season, but only shot four free throws to 16 by Golden State.
Of course the Raptors then proceeded to attempt only two three-pointers in the third, missing them both, yet managed to only trail by three points, setting up the best fourth quarter of the season in front of a lively crowd.
Curry passed Allen Iverson for 28th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list in the game.