In San Francisco, the Raptors had the ball down 106-105, with just 4.3 seconds left. Pascal Siakam, fresh off his re-emergence in Sacramento, had the chance to lead the team to their first set of consecutive wins this season, but the ball rimmed out.
Toronto is now 2-7 for the season, the franchise's worst nine-game start since the 2012-13 season.
But Kyle Lowry is optimistic.
"I think we're building. Our record is 2-7, that's terrible, but we're not this bad of a team," Lowry said postgame. "We're building towards something. Just give it a little bit more time and that record will swing pretty drastically when we get a little bit better."
In the loss to the Warriors, the 34-year-old veteran was the reason the team even had a shot at victory. He scored nearly all of his points in the fourth quarter, including 16 of the team's 33 fourth-quarter points.
LOWRY TIME! pic.twitter.com/uhqE7RV0IJ
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) January 11, 2021
On the other hand, it was his foul that gave Damion Lee the opportunity to give Golden State the slim one-point lead (106-105).
"Stupid play by me, fouling the guy," Lowry said talking about the play.
Clearly, there shouldn't be any overreactions to the team's slow start. Although they are just one full season removed from their 2019 championship run, they've lost plenty of key players since, like Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green Marc Gasol, and Serge Ibaka.
Those losses have led to the team either needing to sync-in new players or develop their younger players like Chris Boucher, Terrence Davis, rookie Malachi Flynn. Both of which take time and require patience, something a positive Lowry is preaching.
Looking ahead, the Raptors travel to Portland, on the second night of a back-to-back to wrap-up their four-game West Coast road trip, before returning to Tampa for a five-game homestand, beginning with back-to-back games against the Charlotte Hornets.
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