The Golden State Warriors’ rollercoaster season took another sharp dip Sunday afternoon in Toronto, as the team squandered multiple double-digit leads and ultimately fell to the Raptors 141-127 in overtime at Scotiabank Arena. What began as a promising road trip opener—with the Warriors riding a three-game win streak and visions of building momentum—ended in familiar heartbreak, marked by costly turnovers, defensive lapses, and renewed questions about the team’s ability to close out tight games.
“It sucks,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters after the defeat. “We’re on a little bit of a run. We’ve got a chance for some momentum, we control the whole game, and we let it slip.”
The numbers tell a frustrating story for Golden State. The Warriors, now 16-16 on the season, have lost 11 of 17 “clutch” games—those decided by five points or fewer in the final five minutes. Sunday’s collapse marked the seventh time this season the team has blown a double-digit lead, underscoring a troubling pattern that’s left both players and coaches searching for answers.
Stephen Curry led all scorers with 39 points on 13-of-30 shooting, slicing through Toronto’s defense for layups and free throws before cooling off late. Draymond Green chipped in 21 points, including a season-high four three-pointers, while Jimmy Butler added 19. Rookie Will Richard provided a spark off the bench with 10 points and five steals, and Brandin Podziemski contributed 13 points, including a critical offensive rebound and putback that briefly gave the Warriors the lead in the final minute of regulation.
But as has so often been the case this season, Golden State’s offensive firepower was undone by self-inflicted wounds. The team committed 21 turnovers—15 after halftime and in overtime—allowing the Raptors to rack up 35 points off those miscues. “We did enough to win, gave ourselves up a good cushion,” Curry said. “Just couldn’t get a rebound in too many, you know, turnovers. It turned up the pressure and we just didn’t have enough answers down the stretch.”
The Warriors’ struggles with Toronto’s pressure defense were evident throughout the second half. After building a 13-point lead in the third quarter—fueled by Green’s hot hand from deep and Curry’s relentless drives—Golden State watched the advantage evaporate as the Raptors forced four consecutive turnovers, trimming the deficit to just four entering the fourth. The Warriors responded with a flurry of threes from Buddy Hield and Moses Moody to push the lead back to double digits, but the Raptors refused to go away.
Immanuel Quickley led Toronto’s charge, drilling a three-pointer with under a minute left to knot the game at 120. Podziemski’s putback briefly restored the Warriors’ lead, but Scottie Barnes answered with a layup to tie it at 122. Curry turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, and the Raptors missed a potential game-winner at the buzzer, sending the contest to overtime.
Overtime was all Raptors. Toronto scored the first 10 points of the extra period, capitalizing on three offensive rebounds in the opening minutes and a string of Warriors turnovers. Barnes, who finished with a historic triple-double—23 points, a career-best 25 rebounds, and 10 assists—dominated the paint, becoming the first Raptor ever to record a 20-20 triple-double. Quickley added 27 points, Brandon Ingram scored 26, and RJ Barrett, returning from a 15-game absence with a knee injury, chipped in 12. Seven Raptors finished in double figures, highlighting the team’s balanced attack.
“The times we did get stops, we just didn’t come up with the rebound,” Podziemski said, pointing to Toronto’s relentless work on the glass. The Raptors piled up 70 points in the paint, exploiting Golden State’s lack of size and athleticism—a weakness that has become increasingly apparent as the season wears on.
ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins didn’t hold back in his postgame assessment, taking to social media to criticize Kerr’s decision to bench Jonathan Kuminga. “The Warriors are broken!!!!” Perkins wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “One day Steve Kerr is going to realize that you need size and athleticism ‘Kuminga’ to compete against the good teams in the League.” Perkins’ comments echoed a growing sentiment among observers: Golden State’s current roster, often playing without a true center for long stretches, struggles to match up against bigger, more athletic opponents. Quentin Post played just 18 minutes and Al Horford, still easing back from sciatica, logged 17, leaving the Warriors vulnerable inside—especially with Kuminga marked as DNP-CD (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision) for the seventh time in eight games.
Despite the criticism, Kuminga’s absence is not without reason. While the young forward is averaging a career-high 6.2 rebounds per game, he’s also struggled with turnovers (2.4 per game) and is shooting a career-worst 43.1% from the field. Still, with the trade deadline looming and Kuminga’s name surfacing in rumors, the debate over his role—and the Warriors’ roster construction—continues to simmer.
Golden State’s defensive effort wasn’t entirely lost in the shuffle. Gary Payton II, now a defensive specialist in limited minutes, delivered two highlight-reel blocks in the first half. Al Horford’s presence off the bench helped the Warriors maintain their third-ranked defensive rating (112.2), but it was all undone by the avalanche of turnovers and the Raptors’ relentless rebounding.
The loss snapped the Warriors’ three-game winning streak and dropped them back to .500, with their next test coming quickly—a Monday night matchup in Brooklyn. The team will need to regroup fast, as the repetitive cycle of blown leads and clutch losses threatens to derail their postseason ambitions.
“We’ve got to learn from this, and see what we did wrong in this game,” rookie Will Richard said, echoing a sentiment that’s become all too familiar in the Warriors’ locker room.
As the Warriors continue to search for consistency and answers, Sunday’s defeat in Toronto stands as another stark reminder of the challenges facing this proud franchise. With the season approaching its halfway mark, the time for solutions—on the court and in the front office—may be running short.