Warriors improve to 21-0 behind Curry's 44 points

Stephen Curry would not allow the Golden State Warriors to lose.

Curry scored 44 points on 24 shots, including nine threes, to help the Warriors squeak out a narrow 112-109 victory against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night.

It's the second time this season that the Raptors pushed the Warriors to the limit, only to come up painfully short.

The league's reigning MVP was dominant from the opening tip. Curry immediately torched the Raptors with 16 points in the first quarter behind some incredible shot-making.

Related - VIDEO: Highlights of Curry's 44-point outburst

Curry's unthinkable precision, superhuman shooting, and effortless grace inspired equal parts panic and disbelief, as a dumbfounded buzz fell over the Raptors' crowd.

Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry, however, wasn't fazed. He led the Raptors on a 13-point comeback in the second quarter against the Warriors' mortal bench unit. Lowry was at his best - swiping steals, draining treys, dropping dimes - but his efforts were erased when Curry subbed back into the game to preserve a 10-point edge heading into the second half.

Related - VIDEO: Splash Brothers drown Raptors with torrential 3-point attack

Not to be outdone, a determined Lowry came out with 13 points in the third quarter to keep the game close. Tack on a surprisingly strong two-way effort from Lucas Nogueira, another solid bench showing from Cory Joseph, and the Raptors managed to hang punch-for-punch with the defending champions heading into the fourth despite a ghastly showing from leading scorer DeMar DeRozan.

By limiting turnovers (six), and matching the Warriors' versatility with a host of two-way wings, Toronto managed to give the reigning champions everything they could handle.

The Raptors even managed to take the lead with four minutes remaining following a pair of free throws by Luis Scola, but Curry just refused to be stopped.

Curry immediately answered Toronto's run with a pair of impossible threes to erase Toronto's edge.

Related - VIDEO: Stephen Curry doesn't play fair, drops daggers on Raptors

Lowry tried his best to keep the game from spiraling out of hand. He found Nogeuira for an alley-oop to tie the game, and Lowry even had an opportunity to tie on an and-one, but a missed free throw allowed the Warriors to escape with their perfect record intact.

The final line for Lowry's valiant effort was a career-high 41 points, along with seven assists, three rebounds, and four steals against just one turnover. That might have been enough, too, if not for a 5-of-19 shooting performance from DeRozan.

But Lowry and the Raptors ultimately fell short against Curry's seventh 40-point outing of the season.