3 biggest studs in Raptors win against backup-laden Warriors

The Toronto Raptors may have been on the receiving end of some bad breaks this season, but they took advantage of one gift that was dropped in their lap on Saturday night. The Golden State Warriors decided to rest almost all of their key rotation players, including Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Andrew Wiggins.

While the evening started on a sour note due to Pascal Siakam and Dalano Banton entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols. Despite not having all of their rotation players, Toronto had no trouble scoring the ball against a Warriors team missing almost all of their big names.

The Raptors pulled off an impressive 119-100 victory that was not nearly as close as that scoreline would indicate. Golden State appeared willing to punt this game on the second night of a back-to-back, and Toronto took advantage of their generosity.

Toronto was able to bludgeon the shorthanded Warriors thanks to most of their star players putting together some quality offensive performances. These three showings stand out above the rest.

Fred VanVleet was dominant for the Toronto Raptors.

Just when it looks like VanVleet has played his best game of the season, he uncorks yet another masterful performance. VanVleet was the driving force on both sides of the ball for Toronto in this game, as he flirted with earning the first triple-double of his career in the first half.

VanVleet would end the night with 27 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists, and three steals in 33 minutes of work. VanVleet may not have been playing elite competition when he went up against Chris Chiozza and Jeff Dowtin, but putting up numbers like that in any context is worthy of praise.

Let’s get the VanVleet All-Star campaign up and running.

Scottie Barnes boosted the Toronto Raptors on offense.

Barnes had a chance to take on a fellow Top 10 pick in Jonathan Kuminga as well as a high school teammate of his in Moses Moody. While Kuminga had some electric dunks in this game, Barnes proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is currently the best of the three rookies.

Barnes scored 21 points on 8-12 shooting while hauling in eight rebounds and dishing out six assists. Barnes, who was a +26 on the night, continued to develop into a more complete player tonight, as there were times where he clearly looked like the most dominant player on the floor.

The Toronto Raptors got solid minutes out of Chris Boucher.

The Siakam positive test put Boucher back in the starting lineup. While most teams would panic after a star player was sidelined right before a game in favor of an inconsistent backup, Boucher was able to put together some impressive numbers against Kevon Looney and Juan Toscano-Anderson.

Boucher ended the night with 11 points and eight rebounds, three of which came on the offensive glass, while coming in as a +21 performer. Boucher has been very impressive since Precious Achiuwa was sidelined, and it may prompt some questioning about what the rotation will look like when everyone is healthy.