What should've been a special night was anything but for Raptors, Warriors

You had to feel for the 9,900 fans that were theoretically allowed into Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night, not to mention the 9,900 who weren’t permitted after it was ruled that due to rising COVID counts, the building’s capacity of 19,800 had to be reduced by half.

In the end, just 7,988 showed up and perhaps they regretted it.

What should have been one of the highlights on the Toronto Raptors schedule – the return of the Golden State Warriors for the first time since Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals – had been reduced to something much less than that.

Making things worse?

Not playing for the Warriors, were – basically – all their best players as they were given the night off on the second night of a back-to-back to calm down pre-existing conditions or rest: Steph Curry (rest); Draymond Green (hip); Andrew Wiggins (knee), Andrew Iguodala (knee) and Otto Porter Jr. (foot) were all given the night off. Add in that Jordan Poole was already out due to health and safety protocols and 81 per cent of the 119 points the Warriors hung on the Raptors a month ago in San Francisco weren’t playing.

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A combination of COVID concerns and a dense NBA schedule made what should have been a special night a glorified scrimmage.

The Raptors did their job and busted the Ghost Warriors 119-100 in a game that was never close and proved only that Raptors rookie Scottie Barnes is too good for the G-League. Barnes finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists while using just 12 shots and 33 minutes. It was perhaps the Raptors’ second-most impressive line as Fred VanVleet took advantage of not having to chase Curry around all night and finished just shy of his first career triple-double with 27 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds while shooting 9-of-17 from the floor and 6-of-10 from deep in 33 minutes.

Did he consider coming back in late to chase those last three boards?

Nah:

Interestingly, Golden State’s M.I.A. players weren’t even in the country as the Warriors arrived in Toronto with just nine players rather than add the complications of international travel with COVID spiking into the mix.

“Yeah, everything factors in,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. “It feels like the whole league now is at a precarious spot. We factor in the differences in the rules here and how that might manifest itself long term … all that stuff.”

And on the Raptors side? Yeah, it was a weird one, too, as on the same night that the Toronto re-introduced OG Anunoby to the lineup after missing 13 games with a hip pointer came the pre-game news that Pascal Siakam and Dalano Banton had entered protocols.

In theory both players would be out for 10 days, minimum. It would cost them three games as they would not be available until the Raptors host the Philadelphia 76ers on Dec. 28.

But Nurse at suggested that the situation may still be evolving.

“There’s a heckuva lot of testing going on right now is all I can say,” said Nurse. “We’ll continue to test and hopefully it’ll just be a precautionary thing and we’ll get them back here quick.”

Still, it ended the Raptors somehow miraculous run of playing against teams that have had COVID outbreaks without having any themselves. But in this environment, it all seems unavoidable. With Siakam and Banton being added to the protocol list, 17 of the 30 teams currently have at least one player being isolated due to COVID.

Anunoby was on a minutes restriction and looked a little rusty after being out for a month. He started and showed a few flashes of the form he was on before the injury, but unsurprisingly didn’t have his burst or wind, as he finished with seven points, three rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes. Precious Achiuwa returned to the floor after missing four games due to a shoulder problem and what was deemed ‘close contact’ with someone who had tested positive at Raptors president Masai Ujiri’s Giants of Africa event on Dec. 5. That directive came from Toronto Public Health, it should be noted, and not the NBA as Achiuwa never tested positive himself. He came off the bench behind Chris Boucher and put up 17 points in 24 minutes.

Now, you know who was at least a little bit excited about the Warriors sending the bulk of their rotation back to San Francisco and fielding a lineup featuring three rookies, including lottery picks Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody, taken seventh and 14th overall, respectively?

That would be former Raptors assistant coach Jama Mahlalela who joined the Warriors this past summer and was given the responsibility of getting their young talent up to speed so they can support Golden State’s veteran core and extend the franchise’s championship window well into the future.

The only downside is that some of the guests he had coming to game were caught out by the sudden reduction in capacity at Scotiabank Arena, but everything else was gravy.

The game might not have been ideal for paying fans, but to get some feedback on the progress of young players in a situation where playing time is otherwise scarce? It could not have been better.

“The exceptional thing with both Jonathan and Moses is that they’re drafted to a really good team that struggles to get them a ton of minutes, just by the nature of our team and what we’re competing for,” Mahlalela told Sportsnet before the game. “[So] tonight becomes this great opportunity for them to actually showcase what they can do and put into practice a lot of what we are coaching them on and see if they do it in a real game against a really good team. So, there’s definitely excitement for me and [while] it’s too bad we don’t have a whole roster, it will be good for them.”

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In that case there was a lot for the Warriors to like, even if the loss dropped them to 24-6 while the Raptors improved to 14-15. In his first career start, Kuminga was Golden State’s best player as he rattled off a 26-point night while going 4-of-6 from deep and flashing some eye-popping athleticism along the way.

Moody had some nice moments to as he scored a career-high 11 points and knocked down a pair of threes of his own.

“He’s just a good, personable guy,” said Moody of Mahlalela. “He’s polite but at the same time he has some dog behind him where you gotta respect what he’s saying. He’s going to tell you how it is; he’s not going to sugar coat it.”

The former Oakwood Collegiate star had carved out a great career path with the Raptors, working his way up from a community relations role in 2006 to a spot on an NBA bench with Dwane Casey and then Nurse before spending two years as head coach with Raptors 905 in the G-League.

The work Mahlalela did in helping Raptors develop the likes of Siakam, VanVleet, Anunoby and Norm Powell underneath a veteran core that was primed to make a run at a title was noted.

“Jama has been amazing. Just a wonderful addition to the staff. His work ethic, his charisma, his energy – he just sort of ties everyone together every day. Players and coaches all love him so just a great addition to the staff and he has such a great track record with player development here in Toronto,” said Kerr.

“We’re lucky to have him.

“We do have a unique situation where we do have this veteran core, guys who have won championships and are still competing at a really high level,” Kerr continued. “They are able to mentor these younger guys who are really gifted. So, to bring Jama in to sort of organize it – I mean he really organizes our daily schedule. He’s kind of my chief of staff in a lot of ways. On top of that he’s just a great person, fun to be around. We are thrilled to have him.”

Mahlalela is thrilled to be there. There was some trepidation about leaving Toronto and the Raptors and moving his young family and his wife, a teacher, across the continent and to a new country, but that’s all gone now. The kids are in good schools, they’ve settled in a nice community halfway between San Francisco and San Jose. Now he gets to see how the likes of Curry does his job every day while schooling a group of promising young players and gets a shot at his second championship ring.

“I feel like it’s funny. I think that the part of me had this sort of fairy tale fantasy that I’d be with the Raptors forever and ever and ever, you know and work my way through the entire organization,” said Mahlalela. “But having made the move now I think it’s provided me tremendous growth. And I’ve seen so many new things and learned so much more this year than I could have if I hadn’t made the switch. So, Toronto’s obviously near and dear to my heart and it always will be and I’m thankful for everything I experienced there, but I’m happy I made the move.”

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