Thunder at Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are winners of 11 in a row and are pulling away from the Boston Celtics in the race for the No. 1 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Raptors will try to make it a franchise-record 12 straight at the expense of a team in a much tighter race when they host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday.
Toronto is 18-1 over its last 19 games and sits five games ahead of the Celtics in the East after scraping by the Dallas Mavericks 122-115 in overtime on Friday. "It's cool," Raptors All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan told reporters of the winning streak. "But I think we're all looking at it like we've got a bigger goal in hand. As long as we're playing well and we're figuring out how to pull through adversity. Every game's not going to be pretty, but as long as we're figuring out how to win and doing it the right way, that's all that matters to me." The Thunder are sitting in the No. 4 spot in the West but are only three games ahead of the ninth-place Denver Nuggets entering play on Saturday. Oklahoma City knocked off one of the teams trying to climb in the West with a 121-113 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, pushing its winning streak to five straight.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma, TSN 1/3/4 (Toronto)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (42-29): Friday's game marked the start of a stretch of 11 straight against teams with winning records, including the current road trip that pits Oklahoma City against the top two teams in the East with a trip to Boston on Tuesday. The Thunder feel better about their chances since adding veteran small forward Corey Brewer to the mix, and the team is 5-2 since adding him to the roster. "When you got a guy that you know is out there doing everything he can to get extra possessions and energize the team, it's contagious," forward Paul George told reporters of Brewer, who collected 22 points and six steals on Friday. "We definitely feel it. We feel that energy, and you gotta match it."
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (52-17): DeRozan carried a bigger load on Friday with fellow All-Star Kyle Lowry getting the night off and responded with 29 points, including the go-ahead basket. DeRozan is averaging 26.5 points over the last two games after slumping to an average of 12 in the previous two contests. Center Jonas Valanciunas stepped up as well with 21 points and 12 rebounds against the Mavericks and is averaging 18.8 points and 12.4 rebounds over the last five contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thunder PG Russell Westbrook recorded a triple-double in each of the last four games.
2. Raptors SF OG Anunoby (ankle) returned from an eight-game absence on Friday and managed four points in 19 minutes.
3. Westbrook collected 30 points and 13 assists in a 124-107 home win over Toronto on Dec. 27.