Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder bury Toronto Raptors in the second half – NBA Recap
Oklahoma City Thunder went on a 24-0 run late in the 2nd half to bury the Toronto Raptors 91-75, here at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Kevin Durant led OKC with a game high 23 points against the Raptors, who lost their star forward Andrea Bargnani in the game due to a tightening of his left calf muscle. He did not return.
Oklahoma City took the early lead and then never trailed throughout the 1st quarter, although the Raptors tied the game on two occasions. Thunder led 25-20 at the end of the first period and started the 2nd
quarter strongly with a 12-4 run, making the score 37-24 to OKC, with 7:54 remaining in the half.
OKC kept their lead throughout the remaining period in the half, despite Toronto closing in on two occasions. They led 50-43 at half time.
Toronto came within 4 of OKC to start the 2nd half but the Thunder ran away with the lead yet again, not allowing Toronto to gain any momentum and take the lead.
However, the turning point came with 6 minutes to go in the third quarter. OKC started a 12-0 run to close the quarter leading 70-55. Toronto were unable to add anything to the score in the final 6 minutes of the game, missing
8 consecutive field goal attempts and turning the ball over 5 times.
The Raptors offensive drought continued in the final quarter where they started off by going score-less for the first 2 and a half minutes, missing 2 free throws, 2 field goal attempts and turning the ball over twice.
OKC capitalized on Toronto’s poor performance by going on another 12-0 run and by the time, they finished the game had already been won. Toronto made their first bucket in 8 and a half minutes of game time, when DeMar DeRozan scored
a jump shot with 9:09 remaining in the game. Toronto were never able to come back in the match after that and OKC won the game 91-75.
Kevin Durant led the OKC scoring once again with 23 points, going 7 of 14 from the field and a perfect 5 of 5 from the foul line. Russell Westbrook added 15 points, shooting 5 of 12 from the floor. James Harden also had a good
night for OKC, scoring 17 points coming off the bench.
It was a dismal offensive night for the Raptors, being held to only 75 points. Only two players had double figure points and no player managed over 20. Jose Calderon led the scoring with 19 points, going 8 of 12 from the field.
DeMar DeRozan added 16 points, but shot only 27% from the field.
The loss of Bargnani cost the Raptors heavily and in his absence, the bench was not able to rise up to the challenge, contributing only 21 points as compared to 40 by the OKC bench.
The Thunder shot an impressive 21 of 26 from the foul line and 10-23 from the 3 point line. They came into this match having lost 3 in a row, and their top ranking in the West to the San Antonio Spurs.
With this loss, Toronto are officially out of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference.
Tags: