Thunder at Raptors
The odds that Russell Westbrook will become the second player in NBA history to average a triple-double increase with each passing game, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are riding their star's historic season toward the playoffs. Westbrook will try to post his fourth straight triple-double and lead the Thunder to their fourth straight win when they visit the Toronto Raptors on Thursday.
Westbrook posted his 33rd triple-double of the campaign with 25 points, 19 assists and 12 rebounds in a 122-104 win at Brooklyn on Tuesday as Oklahoma City maintained its No. 6 spot in the Western Conference. "It’s unbelievable. He had incredible poise tonight," Thunder coach Billy Donovan told reporters of Westbrook. "He generated shots for everybody. He made the game easy for everybody. He rebounded the ball. He scored when he needed to. He’s always surveying the game." The Raptors are hanging onto the No. 4 spot in the East and snapped out of a funk with an impressive 100-78 home win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday after a disappointing 2-3 road trip. “We weren’t out there thinking about what play to run," shooting guard Norman Powell told the Toronto Star. "We get a stop, we’re pushing it. We’re going to focus on getting stops on defense, making it easier on our offense, not letting their defense get as set by walking the ball up the court. So I think our pace was really good from the start and to the finish of the game."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Oklahoma, Sportsnet One (Toronto)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (38-29): Oklahoma City made some moves to get Westbrook some help at the trade deadline and got a big game on Tuesday from newcomer Taj Gibson, who collected 17 points and eight rebounds. "He’s starting to feel a little bit more comfortable knowing where to catch it and where he can catch it," Donovan told reporters of Gibson. "He did a great job moving in around the free-throw line and elbow areas and getting some mid-range jump shots on the baseline. He’s getting a little bit more acclimated and comfortable and we’re getting him the ball in good spots to score." Gibson was in position to grab another rebound in the fourth quarter on Tuesday but leaned away as Westbrook grabbed his 10th for the triple-double.
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (39-28): Toronto relies on its All-Star point guard almost as much as the Thunder and is trying to navigate the rest of the regular season while Kyle Lowry recovers from wrist surgery. The Raptors believe they found the formula to win without Lowry on Monday, when they used a lock-down defense to create transition opportunities on offense. "It makes the game a lot easier when you do that. That’s the way we want to play," coach Dwane Casey told reporters. "I thought we had a good rhythm from that tonight and that’s the key to it, getting stops. You don’t have to run an offense. You don’t have to worry about not knowing. Just run the floor."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Raptors SF DeMarre Carroll (ankle) missed the last two games and is day-to-day.
2. Thunder SG Victor Oladipo is averaging 19.8 points in the last four games and is 13-of-19 from 3-point range in that span.
3. The road team took each of the last three in the series, including Toronto's 112-102 win at Oklahoma City on Nov. 9.