Warriors beat ’flu-bitten Raptors

TORONTO—Aaron Gray’s big night wasn’t enough to rescue the ’flu-ravaged Toronto Raptors.
The centre had a career-high 22 points last night but the Golden State Warriors pulled away late for a 114-102 victory over Toronto.

“They’re a much-improved team, we feel like we can compete with teams like that, but tonight we just couldn’t stop anybody,” admitted Gray, who also had 10 rebounds.
“They scored way too many points, that’s not the identity we want to have.
“It’s hard to beat teams when they score 114,” he reasoned.
Raptors’ coach Dwane Casey said after the game that a bug is going through the team’s locker-room. Landry Fields left the game at half-time because of ’flu-like symptoms after collecting just two points in 13 minutes.
“We’re a worn down team right now with the ’flu, injuries, and all that stuff coming through,” noted Casey, whose team now has lost seven of nine.
“Again there are no excuses,” he stressed. “This is the NBA, nobody’s going to feel sorry for us.
“It’s going to be that way the rest of the way so we got to strap it up, lace it up, and be ready to go to work.”
David Lee had 21 points and 12 rebounds while Klay Thompson added 19 points and seven boards for Golden State (27-17).
“We had 62 points in the paint tonight,” noted Lee.
Up by two points to begin the fourth, the Warriors pulled away with a 12-3 run as Toronto missed 10 of its first 11 field goal attempts of the quarter.
Elsewhere in the NBA, Memphis beat Philadelphia 103-100, Sacramento edged Washington 96-94, Brooklyn dumped Orlando 97-77, Chicago downed Charlotte 93-85, Denver nipped Indiana 102-101, and Houston bombed Utah 125-80.