Russell Westbrook stars as Oklahoma City Thunder crush Toronto Raptors 108-88: NBA Recap
Oklahoma City Thunder got off to a flying start and never looked back in their 108-88 demolition of the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night. Thunder meant business from the get go as they cruised their way to victory here at Chesapeake
Energy Arena.
Russell Westbrook started the proceedings with a layup. Raptors however followed up with 5 in a row to make it 5-2. Few minutes later, Thabo Sefolosha scored two back to back three pointers as Thunder pulled off a 16-5 run to make
it to 22-14. An 8-0 run on back of another Sefolosha three pointer extended their lead to 30-15. Sefolosha made it 3 out of 3 in the first quarter. A Dominic McGuire jump shot left the Raptors trailing by 17-30 at the close of the quarter.
Thunder outscored the Raps in the second quarter too. They kept the momentum going and Eric Manor’s jump shot got them to 33-17. Raptors tried hard to cut the deficit and went for a 7-0 run but the Thunder managed to stay on top.
They widened the gap when they had a 10-2 near the end of period; and led 57-38 going into half time.
Layups by Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka opened the scoring in the third quarter as Thunder gathered a decisive 61-38 lead. A Kevin Durant layup few minutes later got them to 70-41. Raptors went on to score the next 8 points
before a Serge Ibaka dunk shot made it 72-49. Two free throws by Hasheem Thabeet OKC a 27 point advantage before Raptors reduced the deficit by 5 near the close of the quarter.
Raptors managed to outscore OKC in the last quarter but it was not enough as Thunder just stream rolled on their way to victory. Thunder crossed the 100 point mark with six minutes to go, and were still enjoying a comfortable 24
point lead at that point. Raptors tried to chase them but fell short on the night.
“The start was a big part of our win tonight. We talked about coming out with defensive toughness and everybody got involved on the defensive end and offensively I thought our ball movement and our passing were outstanding."
Thunder head coach, Scott Brooks said after the win.
With 19 points and 8 assists, Russell Westbrook was the key player for his team. Serge Ibaka scored 17, going 8-of-9 from the field while Kevin Durant and Kevin Martin both chipped in with 15 points each.
Jonas Valanciunas top scored with 18 points and 6 rebounds for the Raptors while Andrea Bargnani had 16 points and 6 rebounds for the night. Thunder shot 47.3 percent from the field and 36 percent from the three point range while
Raptors shot 35.7 percent from the field and 23.3 percent from downtown.
Tags: