OAKLAND, Calif. — The Toronto
Raptors are quickly fading in the Eastern Conference and Chris Bosh is
getting frustrated.
In a brief three-minute conversation
with reporters following a 124-112 loss to the Golden State Warriors on
Saturday night, Bosh criticized his teammates and himself and said he's
out of explanations for Toronto's slide that has the Raptors on the
fringe of missing the postseason.
"It's like if you look at the schedule
right now and see Toronto, I'm sure people are checking something in
the win box," said Bosh, who had 24 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
"I can understand if we lose the game going down fighting but we're not
fighting at all.
"Time is ticking and it's counting
down, and if we keep playing the way we are right now, we're going to be
on the outside looking in. Guys need to step it up, period."
Three weeks ago, the Raptors closed an
11-2 stretch that put them in contention for homecourt advantage in the
first round of the playoffs. Now they're struggling just to get into
the postseason.
Asked what Toronto needs to do to turn
things around, Bosh — the franchise leader in points, rebounds and
blocked shots — was succinct in his reply.
"Just do it. Act like you care," he
said. "I'm going down playing offense on [the Warriors] side of the
court and their bench is louder than we are. That doesn't make any
sense. They're not playing for anything.
Toronto, Charlotte, Miami and Chicago
are vying for the final three playoff spots in the East. The Raptors
currently sit in eighth behind the Bobcats and Heat, and ahead of the
Bulls.
Losing to a Golden State team that
owned the third-worst record in the NBA certainly didn't help.
Stephen Curry had 35 points and 10
assists for the Warriors while Monta Ellis scored 31 in his second game
back following a back injury.
"Before the game we said just go out
there and have fun and try and get a win," said Ellis, who had his first
30-point game since scoring 46 against Dallas on Feb. 3. "We made plays
for other guys and got everyone involved. We got ourselves together and
became a scrappy team."
In short, the Warriors did everything
the Raptors didn't do.
Corey Maggette added 20 points and
Anthony Morrow had 11 for Golden State, which set a season high with 16
3-pointers while snapping a six-game losing streak.
The Warriors got a big lift from
Ellis, who was playing for only the second time after sitting out six
games with a back injury. Golden State's team captain scored 17 points
on 7-of-15 shooting in Thursday's 110-105 loss to Portland, but went 12
of 22 against Toronto.
Curry also came up big while falling
one point shy of his career high. The Warriors' rookie matched Ellis for
the team lead with five 3-pointers, including a 32-footer with 1.5
seconds left to play.
Jose Calderon had 24 points and 12
assists for Toronto, which trailed by as much as 15 in the matchup of
two of the NBA's highest-scoring teams.
Toronto scored 35 points in the first
quarter but stumbled through most of the second, going more than six
minutes without a basket while allowing Golden State to erase a 10-point
deficit and take a 45-42 lead.
Calderon helped the Raptors snap out
of their offensive funk briefly with three 3s over the final 4 minutes
of the half and Jack added his own 3 with 43.8 seconds left to help give
Toronto a 60-56 halftime lead.
But the Warriors took control for
good in the third quarter, going on a 25-6 run keyed by an onslaught
from the perimeter.
"We can get it turned around by
having our guys play better," Raptors coach Jay Triano said. "Obviously
our best guys have to play better. We're not getting that right now."
Golden State, which was 7 of 12 on
3-pointers in the first half, went 7 for 10 from beyond the arc in the
third and built a 15-point lead Toronto never challenged.
Warriors coach Don Nelson moved
within six wins of passing Lenny Wilkens to become the winningest coach
in NBA history.
Notes
Bosh needs 31 points to become
the first player in Raptors history to reach 10,000 in a career. …
Toronto is winless in four games since Bosh returned to the lineup after
a seven-game absence due to a sprained left ankle. … Golden State's
franchise record for 3-pointers in a single game is 18, reached three
times. Most recently the Warriors did it against Memphis on Jan. 3,
2007, though they had 46 attempts. … The Warriors have beaten the
Raptors six straight times at home.