Raptors left reeling by Warriors' quick start

The Golden State Warriors played one of their most dominant quarters of the season to start the game, building a 25-point lead against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

After that, there were turnovers and second chances for Toronto, but Golden State hung on for a 121-111 victory.

Kevin Durant had 22 points, 17 rebounds and added seven assists and five blocks for the Warriors.

Stephen Curry had 28 points, seven assists and seven rebounds and Klay Thompson scored 21 - which showed that if you make these Warriors a little mad one game, they might just play far better the next.

They did just that, for a stretch.

"We're still getting wins," Thompson said. "That's all that matters."

Upset with themselves for blowing a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter to lose 109-108 at Cleveland in an NBA Finals rematch on Christmas Day, the Warriors took it out on Toronto.

DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points and became Toronto's career scoring leader with 10,290 (passing Chris Bosh's 10,275), but the Raptors had their franchise-record, seven-game road winning streak snapped.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey couldn't be happier with how DeRozan represents the franchise.

"I think he's grown in every aspect of his game except probably his 3-point shooting, but he's probably one of the best in-between shooters in the league," Casey said.

"I couldn't think of anybody who deserves that honor or record or whatever you want to call it more than DeMar. I think he's the face of our franchise."

Curry, Durant and Thompson each scored 20 or more points in the same game for the 11th time.

Golden State dished out 30 or more assists for an NBA-best 22nd time and shot 56.8 percent in a 12th straight home win against Toronto.

Curry's snazzy behind-the-back pass to Thompson for a 3-pointer late in the third put the Warriors up 95-75, but they had to deliver late.

Curry rebounded a missed 3 by Durant and converted two key free throws with 2:04 to go, then Durant blocked a shot by DeRozan on the other end. He blocked another shot in the final seconds.

Golden State has now gone 119 straight regular-season games without losing back-to-back contests since April 2015 and has won 15 in a row after a defeat, going 5-0 this season.

Andre Iguodala scored in double figures off the bench for the seventh time this season with 11 points, making all five of his shots.

Golden State made nine of its first 10 shots with a pair of 3s by Thompson, a long 28-footer by Curry and another from Durant to jump to a 22-4 lead.

The Raptors called their second timeout with 7:40 left in the first.

"We put ourselves in a hole, we dug our way out of it, but we didn't have enough to finish it," Toronto's Kyle Lowry said.

Toronto started the second with a 19-6 spurt to get back within 12, but the Warriors closed the half on a 16-4 run to lead 72-55 at the break.

"It was the most bizarre box score I've ever seen at halftime," coach Steve Kerr said.

Blackhawks pin down Panarin

Artemi Panarin and the Chicago Blackhawks agreed to terms on Wednesday on a two-year contract extension worth $12 million.

Last season's NHL rookie of the year will count $6 million against the salary cap in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

Agent Tom Lynn confirmed the deal in an email to Associated Press.

Panarin has 114 points in his first 117 NHL games. The 25-year-old Russian winger had 30 goals and 47 assists as a rookie, and has 15 goals and 22 assists in 37 games this term.

The former Kontinental Hockey League star, who went undrafted and signed with the Blackhawks in July 2014, currently sits fifth in the NHL scoring race approaching the season's halfway mark.

While not the long-term contract that many expected, the bridge deal keeps Panarin in Chicago along with core players Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Artem Anisimov, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Corey Crawford.

The Blackhawks have over $59 million committed to those nine players for next season.

Panarin, who was a point-a-game player in his first appearance in Stanley Cup playoffs last spring, conceded on a long-term deal in order to keep Chicago's championship window wide open.

He will still make more than compatriot Nikita Kucherov, who re-signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning for an average of $4.67 million over three years.

Associated Press

Golden State Warriors' Kevin Durant blocks out DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors during the second half of Wednesday's game in Oakland, California. The Warriors won 121-111 Jeff Chiu / Ap