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Kevin Durant Praises Raptors After Warriors Loss: They Have Champions over There

Mike Chiari

Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant praised the Toronto Raptors after losing 113-93 at home against the Raptors on Wednesday night. 

According to ESPN.com's Nick Friedell, Durant was impressed by the Raptors but wasn't surprised by their performance given the makeup of their roster:

"They have champions over there. Danny [Green] and Kawhi [Leonard]. They also have guys like Serge [Ibaka] and Kyle [Lowry] and Jonas [Valanciunas]. They got a great mix of veteran and young players. They got a new coach, but the leaders of that team have been through some wars.

"So I wouldn't call them a young team or say them beating us two times is going to give them extra confidence. They've been ballin' before that, and they're going to be ballin' after they beat us. So they're not an up-and-coming team. They're here."

Golden State had its full allotment of stars in Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green on Wednesday, while Toronto was without Leonard, who sat with a bruised right hip.

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Even so, the Raptors dominated the Warriors and managed to sweep the season series in the process.

Per Friedell, the 93 points scored by the Warriors are the fourth-fewest they have managed in a game with Durant, Curry, Thompson and Green all participating over the past three seasons.

While KD finished with a game-high 30 points, the Raptors managed to hold the Dubs to just 23.1 percent shooting from three-point range.

At 23-7, the Raptors now hold a 3.5-game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers for first place in the Western Conference, while the Warriors are second to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference at 19-10.

   

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