Raptors hand Thunder their first home loss this season
OKLAHOMA CITY -- DeMar DeRozan scored 37 points to lead the Toronto Raptors to an 112-102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
DeRozan made 13 of 22 shots from the field and 11 of 15 from the free throw line. He came into the game averaging nine free throw attempts per night.
Kyle Lowry had 19 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds for Toronto. Patrick Patterson came off the bench to score 13 points.
Russell Westbrook paced the Thunder with 36 points, seven assists and seven rebounds. Victor Oladipo scored 18 points and Steven Adams added 14 points and 12 boards in the Thunder's first home loss of the season.
With 5:37 left in the fourth quarter, Westbrook hit two free throws that pulled the Thunder within six points. However, DeRozan was fouled by Oladipo and buried two free throws.
Westbrook and Adams scored the next five points and Oklahoma City trailed 99-95 with 4:50 left.
Oklahoma City came up with a defensive stop and had the ball with a chance to cut the deficit to at least two points. Westbrook then lost the ball while going up for a layup and Lowry hit a jumper before DeRozan made one of two free throws.
Westbrook missed a long 3-pointer that led to another Lowry 3-pointer, pushing the lead to 105-95.
A fast-break layup by DeRozan gave Toronto a 12-point advantage with 2:44 left. That was enough for the Raptors, who held on the rest of the way.
The Raptors shot 51 percent from the field and 42 percent from behind the arc.
The Thunder normally dominate on the boards but only had a 39-35 advantage over the active Raptors.
Oklahoma City unpacked their defense early. Each shot the Raptors took was contested. That included Andre Roberson shadowing DeRozan all over the court.
When Roberson went to the bench, the Thunder brought in Kyle Singler to hound DeRozan. The Raptors didn't score their first basket until 7:19 left in the first quarter.
That seemed to settle down the Raptors slightly. Behind a 42-point second quarter, they slowly climbed back and took a 62-55 halftime lead.
Oklahoma City's offense continued to struggle after halftime. The player movement was stagnant and the ball often stayed on one side of the court.
Westbrook tried to force the action and take over. But the Raptors made him play in a crowd of defenders that caused bad shots and turnovers.
The Raptors led by 13 points at the end of third quarter as Lowry and Patterson found their touch and knocked down midrange jumpers and 3-pointers.
The Thunder's inability to close out quarters strong on both sides of the court hurt them throughout the night.
NOTES: Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook was asked what he thought about the outcome of presidential election. "I didn't vote for (Donald) Trump. I can tell you that much," Westbrook said. Asked if it was a surprise, Westbrook said, "That's all I'm going to say. I didn't vote for Trump. I'd prefer not to elaborate on it. But I didn't vote for him." ... Toronto F Patrick Patterson also expressed his feelings about the continuous presidential election. "They're both bad. They're both horrible candidates," Patterson told The Oklahoman. "At the end of the day, one is worse than the other, yes, but does that really matter? They're both horrible candidates. Should you go vote for someone just because the other person is horrific?" ... Oklahoma City rookie Domantas Sabonis says the game is slowing down for him. "Every game we play it's a bit different," Sabonis said. "Every team has a different power forward or different big, so I just have to adjust. Nick (Collison), Steven (Adams) and all the coaches are helping me adjust."