There are explosions and then whatever the Toronto Raptors have just done with the Golden State Warriors. In 48 of the most unbalanced minutes in NBA history, the Raptors defeated the Warriors 130-77. The final score does not do the Raptors justice. For a quarter, Toronto led by just one. After three? They led by 53. In a 24-minute break, they managed to beat the Warriors by 52 points, or about 2.2 points per minute.
The third quarter was especially humiliating. For five years, the Warriors were the best team in the third quarter of NBA history. They overcame opponents by 1,640 points accumulated in the third quarter during Steve Kerr’s first five years in charge. The Raptors surpassed them 46-14 in that frame.
Open your record books, reader, because a lot of NBA history was made in the explosion:
- The 53 point victory was the 28th victory of that margin in the history of the championship. It was the biggest blow of the season, overtaking the Dallas Mavericks’ 51-point win over the Los Angeles Clippers, and unsurprisingly, it’s the biggest margin of victory in the history of the Raptors as well. It was the NBA’s biggest win since 2018.
- At one point, the Raptors led by 61 points. That is the biggest advantage that any team has had this season.
- Gary Trent Jr. was over-under-54 and didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. This is the second best mark that any player has posted since 1996, when the league started tracking it. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute holds the record for the most-57. Obviously, this means that Trent set the Raptors’ record.
The Raptors came into play with the NBA’s 17th best points differential at -28. They now have the NBA’s 13th best points differential at over-25. Despite their 19-30 record, the Raptors have a better points spread than the Portland Trail Blazers 29-18. They are still 1.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the final game of the Eastern Conference.
As for the warriors? They deserve a short break. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green lost this game, and with Klay Thompson already out for the season, the Warriors were not exactly in a position to deal with any extra absences.
“We have just been destroyed. There is not much to say,” explained Kerr after the game. “Humiliating. For everyone involved.” The Warriors now lead the Sacramento Kings for just half a game for the Western Conference play-in spot.
This has been a frustrating season for the Raptors since its start in December. COVID-19 restrictions forced them to play in Tampa Bay. The loss of depth of the attack court, health problems and bad luck in the clutch cost them a spot near the top of the Eastern Conference. Mainstay Norman Powell was traded, and team legend Kyle Lowry was also almost moved. But for one night in April, the Raptors looked like a competitor again. They gave an all-time beating on Kerr’s unmanned warriors.