
Programming note: Raptors-Warriors coverage starts tonight at 6:30pm with Warriors Pregame Live on CSN Bay Area, and streaming live right here.
OAKLAND – The Warriors have been the NBA’s hottest team through the first three weeks, but Week 4 may present the toughest challenge yet.
Forward Draymond Green, so critical to the team’s various player rotations, has been coping with flu but expects to play Tuesday night when the Warriors (11-0) play Toronto at Oracle Arena in the first of three games in four nights.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
The Raptors (6-4) are building around guards Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan, as well as 23-year-old center Jonas Valanciunas, the 7-footer from Lithuania. They started fast but have faded, losing four of the last six.
[POOLE: Source: Bogut likely to start over Ezeli when Warriors face Raptors]
A win by the Warriors would push them to 12-0, tying the 1996-97 Bulls for second-best start by a defending champion. The record is 15-0, held by the 1993-94 Houston Rockets.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Steph Curry vs. Kyle Lowry: After a summer riding bikes and sweating through Pilates sessions, Skinny Kyle has replaced Chubby Kyle and he’s playing very well. Whether he can guard Curry is another matter. Each of these point guards is the engine behind his team, so the winner here gives his club a decided edge.
INJURY REPORT
Warriors: G Klay Thompson (back stiffness) is probable. G Shaun Livingston (left hip flexor strain) is doubtful. F Kevon Looney (hip surgery) remains out indefinitely.
Raptors: F Terrence Ross (L thumb ligament injury) is listed as questionable.
SERIES HISTORY
The Warriors last season swept the series (2-0) for the sixth time in 10 seasons and have won the last 10 in Oakland. The Warriors last home loss to Toronto was on Feb. 8, 2004 in overtime.
QUOTABLE
“Big, physical, good hands, can move and relatively athletic for a big guy. So I’ve got to make sure I do my work early.” – Warriors center Andrew Bogut on the challenges posed by Valanciunas