There are blowouts, and then there’s whatever the Toronto Raptors just did to the Golden State Warriors. In 48 of the most lopsided minutes in NBA history, the Raptors defeated the Warriors 130-77. The final score doesn’t do the Raptors justice. Through one quarter, Toronto led by only one. After three? They led by 53. In a 24 minute span, they managed to outscore the Warriors by 52 points, or around 2.2 points per minute.
The third quarter was especially humbling. For five years, the Warriors were the best third-quarter team in NBA history, They outscored opponents by a cumulative 1,640 points in third quarters during Steve Kerr’s first five years at the helm. The Raptors outscored them 46-14 in that frame.
Open up your record books, reader, because plenty of NBA history was made in the blowout:
- The 53-point win was the 28th victory of that margin in league history. It was the biggest blowout of this season, surpassing a 51-point Dallas Mavericks win over the Los Angeles Clippers, and unsurprisingly, is largest margin of victory in Raptors history as well. It was the biggest win the NBA has seen since 2018.
- At one point, the Raptors led by 61 points. That is the largest lead that any team has had this season.
- Gary Trent Jr. had a plus-minus of plus-54, and he didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. That is the second-best mark any player has posted since 1996, when the league started tracking it. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute holds the record at plus-57. Obviously, this means Trent set the Raptors record.
The Raptors entered the game with the NBA’s 17th-best point differential at minus-28. They now have the NBA’s 13th-best point differential at plus-25. Despite their 19-30 record, the Raptors have a better point differential than the 29-18 Portland Trail Blazers. They still sit 1.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the Eastern Conference’s final play-in spot.
As for the Warriors? They deserve a bit of a break. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green both missed this game, and with Klay Thompson already out for the season, the Warriors weren’t exactly in a position to handle any extra absences.
“We just got destroyed. Not a lot to be said,” Kerr explained after the game. “Humiliating. For everybody involved.” The Warriors now lead the Sacramento Kings by only half of a game for the Western Conference’s final play-in spot.
This has been a frustrating season for the Raptors since it tipped off in December. COVID-19 restrictions have forced them to play in Tampa Bay. Lost frontcourt depth, health issues and bad luck in the clutch have cost them their spot near the top of the Eastern Conference. Mainstay Norman Powell was traded, and team legend Kyle Lowry was nearly moved as well. But for one night in April, the Raptors looked like a contender again. They delivered an all-time beating on Kerr’s undermanned Warriors.