Golden State head coach credits veteran forward while shouldering responsibility for overtime defeat in Toronto.
The Golden State Warriors were expected to be in a tough fight when they went on the road to face the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, but nobody expected the game to slip away in the manner it did.
After building a 12-point lead with just under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Warriors completely fell apart and let the Raptors storm back to force overtime before ultimately losing 141-127 at Scotiabank Arena.
Kerr Takes the Blame
Following the loss, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was quick to praise Draymond Green for his effort while putting the blame on himself for not getting his team better organized down the stretch.
"Draymond was great. Played his tail off. He did everything he could to help us win," Kerr said. "Like I said, I let us down tonight."
Green backed up his coach's words with one of his best performances of the season, finishing with a season-high 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting while connecting on 4-of-8 from three-point range.
He also added four rebounds, seven assists, and a steal in 33 minutes of action against Toronto (19-14).
The 21 points marked Green's highest scoring output of the 2025-26 campaign and snapped a four-game stretch where he had failed to reach double figures.
Strong Performances Not Enough
Despite the loss, Stephen Curry poured in a game-high 39 points on 13-of-30 shooting, though all of his points came in regulation as he was held scoreless in overtime.
Jimmy Butler chipped in 19 points in the defeat, but it was not enough to overcome a rough fourth quarter and overtime where the Warriors committed 21 turnovers on the night that led to 35 points for the Raptors.
Toronto scored the final 10 points of overtime and outscored Golden State 19-5 in the extra session after Scottie Barnes tied the game at 122-all with a tip-in with just 23.6 seconds remaining in regulation.
Barnes finished with a triple-double of 23 points, a franchise-record-tying 25 rebounds, and 10 assists to lead the Raptors to victory.
Looking Ahead
The Warriors fell to 16-16 on the season with the loss and now sit in eighth place in the Western Conference.
Golden State does not have much time to think about the defeat as they head to Brooklyn to face the Nets (10-19) on Monday night in the second game of a back-to-back.
From there, the Warriors return home on New Year's Day to take on the Charlotte Hornets before hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder on January 2nd in what should be a good test against one of the best teams in the league.
If Kerr's squad wants to make a push in the competitive Western Conference, they will need to figure out how to close out games when they have the lead.