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Steemsports presents the Toronto Raptors vs Golden State Warriors

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We would like to welcome our new writer @hansolo who will be contributing to our NBA/NHL and MLB games!

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Game Preview

The Toronto Raptors won an ugly one against the Trailblazers extending their streak to 4 and bringing them ever closer to knocking the Cavs out of first. The Warriors have the best record in the League – they lost their last outing against the Cavs by 1 point. Tonight the Warriors are playing the Raptors in Oakland. The Raps are good enough to win this game – but it will likely be close and likely be Golden State who wins.

ALL-TIME RECORD

Golden State Warriors	25 Wins
Toronto Raptors	15 Wins

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Toronto Raptors

Toronto won an ugly one against the Trailblazers. They were having one of those nights where nobody was making shots and Lowry seemed superhuman. The good news is – they have shaken off their Christmas cobwebs – and beat a “not so bad” opponent in the Trailblazers 95-91. This win was important for the Raptors – last night the Cav’s finally lost (Lebron wasn’t playing) to the Detroit Pistons which extends the Raptors winning streak to 4 – and still leaves them one game out of first. Tonight’s game against the Warriors will be hard for the Raptors to win.

The Warriors are easily the best team in the NBA. The Raptors this year have had very little success against the big boys (Clippers, Cavs, Warriors) – they don’t need to win these games to make it to the playoffs – they do need to win this game if they expect to make it past the semi-finals this year and perhaps win their first NBA Championship. Lowry was third in the League last night in 3 pointers (with 5), Terrance Ross was second in steals (4 Steals). DeRozan looked less superhuman with only 20 points – bested by his teammate Lowry who scored 27pts on the night! Toronto needs this win to show that they have what it takes to beat a team in the west (to win the final). Golden State has nothing to lose – it should be an interesting match

Key Player: Terrance Ross

Terrence James Elijah Ross (born February 5, 1991) Terrence James Elijah Ross (born February 5, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the University of Washington, where he was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection before being drafted eighth overall in the 2012 NBA draft by the Raptors. As a rookie, he was crowned champion of the 2013 Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. In January 2014, he became the first player in NBA history to score 50 or more points in a game while averaging fewer than 10 points per game. Ross scored a team-high of 25 pts this season against the Bucks. He is in his fifth season with the raptors. He is averaging 23 minutes a game with 9 points per game. He had 4 steals versus the Trailblazers, Ross is tied with Vince Carter for most points in a game as a Raptor with 51pts against the Clippers in 2014.

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Golden State Warriors

Golden State is having an amazing season. Going into tonight’s game they are 27-5 (as opposed to the Raptors 22-8). The Western conference is a lot tougher than the Eastern when you look at the top teams (Clippers, Spurs, Rockets, and Clippers). The Raptors and Cav’s are alone at the top in the east – the next closest team is 5.5 games out. The Warriors did lose to the Cavs their last outing – unfortunately, we will never know if the Warriors actually lost or if the Cavs got lucky. The League admitted that Lebron James deliberately hung on the rim after a dunk with 1:43 left. The Cavs forward Jefferson should have been called for a foul on Durant in the game’s final play. For the NBA to admit that it got 2 calls wrong (which cost the Warriors the game) is huge.

Expect tonight’s game against the Raptors – in Oakland to be a carefully called game – it there will be any bias it will be against the Raptors. This team is comprised of three core players. Kevin Durant is the superstar – averaging 26.2 pts per game and 1.5 blocks. Green is stealing 2.2 per game and averaging 7.3 assists. Stephen Curry is beating his last season free throw % with a 93.3% success rate compared to last years 90.8%. Since the Warriors are coming off a tough loss that they probably should have won if it wasn’t for the officiating – expect them to come out hard and fast against the red hot Raptors

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Player Spotlight: Kevin Durant

Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988)is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Durant has won an NBA Most Valuable Player Award, four NBA scoring titles, the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and two Olympic gold medals. He has also been selected to six All-NBA teams and seven All-Star teams.

Durant was a heavily recruited high school prospect. He played one season of college basketball for the University of Texas, where he won numerous year-end awards and became the first freshman to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. In the 2007 NBA draft, he was selected with the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics. After his rookie season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City and became the Thunder. Durant helped lead Oklahoma City to the 2012 NBA Finals, losing to the Miami Heat in five games. He played nine seasons for the Thunder organization before joining the Warriors in 2016 .

When Durant left the OKC Thunder – the team put his jersey on sale for 99% off. It sold out very quickly as fans felt betrayed by him joining the Warriors. His Warrior jersey sold more in a week than Lebron James did when he returned to the Cavs in 2014. There is no question that he is a bonafide superstar. Averaging 27 points this year – Durant is playing for what he hope to be an NBA Championship with an extremely talented Golden State team.

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Presenter: @hansolo

Editor: @cryptoiskey

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December 28th, 10:30PM/7:30PM ETPT

December 29th, 3:30AM UTC

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