Warriors look to continue home floor mastery over Raptors

The Toronto Raptors' brutal early schedule kicks into high gear Wednesday night when they travel to Oakland, Calif., to take on the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

Coming off consecutive home wins to open the season, the Raptors tipped off a stretch of 12 of 17 on the road with a 101-97 loss at San Antonio on Monday night.

The sequence begins with six straight on the road over the course of 12 days. The Raptors also will face the Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz on the Western swing.

The Warriors are coming off a three-game trip that included a 111-101 loss at Memphis. They sandwiched that defeat with wins over New Orleans and Dallas, and return home with a 2-2 record.

The Warriors also will face Washington and Detroit on a three-game homestand.

Golden State has swept the last three season series from Toronto, going 6-0 over that stretch. The Raptors have lost 12 in a row in Oakland dating to 2004.

Not surprisingly, given the firepower of their backcourts, offense was the name of the game when the Raptors and Warriors met last season in 127-121 and 121-111 Golden State victories.

Actually, the Raptors got the better of the backcourt wars on both occasions.

DeMar DeRozan (34) and Kyle Lowry (24) outscored Warriors counterparts Stephen Curry (35) and Klay Thompson (15) 58-50 in Toronto's six-point home loss in November.

Kevin Durant was a difference-maker for Golden State on that night, pouring in 30 points.

The Raptors' guards had a 58-49 advantage in the rematch in Oakland in December but, again, Toronto had no answer for Durant's 22 additional points.

DeRozan had 28 points but Lowry just eight in Monday's loss at San Antonio.

The Raptors were playing without center Jonas Valanciunas, who has a sprained left ankle.

Without the big man, Toronto was outrebounded 55-34, allowing 18 offensive rebounds that the Spurs turned into a majority of their 58 points in the paint.

"We played great defense, but we've got to realize with that don't let it go to waste by giving up offensive rebounds to the team," DeRozan observed after the loss. "That's something we definitely can take from (this game)."

The Warriors enjoyed a 50-42 rebounding advantage in their 133-103 romp Monday at Dallas. Durant had a team-high eight rebounds to go with six assists and 25 points.

Curry led the Warriors with 29 points, with 13 coming on a 13-for-13 night at the free-throw line.

The former Most Valuable Player is off to one of the most amazing foul-shooting starts in NBA history, having 3-for-3, 10-for-10 and 13-for-13 twice en route to 39 consecutive makes to open the season.

Curry also recorded a regular-season career first when he was ejected from Saturday's loss at Memphis for throwing his mouthpiece in the direction of a referee. He was fined $50,000 but not suspended for the incident.

"It's an expensive mouthpiece toss," he admitted in the wake of the fine announcement. "At the end of the day, it's not about the money. It's about me not doing stupid stuff and losing my cool like that. It's obviously a tough blow, but it's more so about me recognizing how to handle myself on the court."

Curry's only other career ejection occurred in Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.