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On the way to what would have been one of the most inspiring wins of a poor season, the Toronto Raptors found out why the Oklahoma City Thunder is a title contender.
Up by as many as 23 points on the road against the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-led powerhouse, the Raptors instead gave up one open three-pointer after another and saw the lead completely evaporate. The visitors still had plenty of chances, though, with the game going to double overtime, but couldn’t pull up the upset. Oklahoma City escaped with a 135-127 win to keep up with Minnesota atop the Western Conference. Toronto lost for the 11th time in 13 games.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 23 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds, four other Thunder players scored at least 20, and the team hoisted up nearly twice as many three-pointers as the Raptors, which negated a big Toronto free throw advantage.
RJ Barrett led Toronto with 23, but rimmed out a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation. Scottie Barnes and Dennis Schroder added 19 each.
Up by as many as 23 points on the road against the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-led powerhouse, the Raptors instead gave up one open three-pointer after another and saw the lead completely evaporate. The visitors still had plenty of chances, though, with the game going to double overtime, but couldn’t pull up the upset. Oklahoma City escaped with a 135-127 win to keep up with Minnesota atop the Western Conference. Toronto lost for the 11th time in 13 games.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 23 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds, four other Thunder players scored at least 20, and the team hoisted up nearly twice as many three-pointers.
RJ Barrett led Toronto with 23, but rimmed out a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation. Scottie Barnes and Dennis Schroder added 19 each.
The final 1:09 of regulation was wild. Immanuel Quickley scored a layup to put the Raptors up by two points, but after three straight misses, two by the Thunder, Barrett grabbed a rebound but lost the ball out of bounds, giving the Thunder another chance. Aaron Wiggins capitalized, tying the game with 4.7 seconds left on a layup. Barrett then missed his shot and the game went to overtime.
Gilgeous-Alexander had one of his quieter scoring games, but he’s an MVP front-runner for a reason and did plenty of other things well until stepping up late. Down three with the Raptors seizing some momentum in overtime, the Hamilton native calmly sank a three-pointer with 56.1 seconds left, then stole a pass. He was not even close to finished, though. Gilgeous-Alexander missed a shot on the ensuing chance, but then blocked Gary Trent Jr. at the buzzer to send the game to a second overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander scored or assisted on all of the Thunder’s points in the first overtime. He set up three more three-pointers to finish off the Raptors, all while playing with five fouls.