Most teams don't expect to keep up with the Golden State Warriors, but that's exactly what Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey hopes his team will do Wednesday night.
The Raptors are in Oakland to face the Warriors, hoping to get back into the win column against the defending NBA champions after a disappointing 101-97 loss in San Antonio on Monday. It's a steep challenge, but one every team must deal with over the course of the season.
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"You've gotta be able to score," Casey told reporters on Tuesday. "They're an underrated defensive team with their switching, so you've got to be able to score and keep up with their scoring, and not get dejected and not let their ability to make shots drain you — your energy levels, your emotions, your belief system.
"That's one way to make sure you stay with them."
Of course, keeping up with a Warriors team that has redefined the way the game is played is a tall task, especially for a Raptors team that is struggling to adapt to a new shot-heavy system. Toronto went 10-37 from three-point range in the loss to San Antonio, a factor that played into the defeat. Overall they shot just 43 percent from the field against the Spurs with DeMar DeRozan leading the Raptors with 28 points on 10 of 20 shooting from the floor.
West coast shots. #WeTheNorth pic.twitter.com/DZpArTBlJU
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) October 24, 2017
Poor shooting, though, and a lack of defensive cohesion, ultimately saw Toronto blow a late lead to the Spurs, and the Raptors say they cannot make the same mistakes against Golden State.
"If we play like we did against San Antonio, not boxing out, not rebounding, they're gonna light us up," guard Norman Powell said. "That's what they do. They rebound and kick it out for three, so we gotta be able to complete our defensive stops."
For Powell, how the Raptors fare against a Warriors team that has claimed two of the past three NBA championships comes down to the effort he and his teammates show on the court on Wednesday night.
"We've got to play a crisp, sound basketball game, doing all the little things. We can't control whether we're gonna make the shots, but we can control our effort, our hustle, our grit. That's what's gonna help us."
The Warriors are 2-2 to start the season and are coming off Monday's 133-103 blowout victory over the Dallas Mavericks that closed out a three-game road trip.