TORONTO — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points in his only regular-season trip to his homeland, Chet Holmgren had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away late to beat the Raptors Toronto shorthanded 123-103. Friday night.
“We did enough to win,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We weren’t the best version of ourselves tonight. We’re going to look in the mirror and try to figure out how we can do this more often.
Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Kenrich Williams and Cason Wallace each had 12 as the Western Conference-leading Thunder won their fourth straight and extended their season-worst losing streak to nine. Toronto.
Canadian Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with eight assists and seven rebounds. Josh Giddey and Lu Dort scored 10 points each as Oklahoma City improved to 21-13 on the road.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s second-leading scorer behind Dallas’ Luka Doncic, said he enjoys playing near his home in Hamilton, Ont., about 64 kilometers from Toronto.
“It’s always fun,” he said. “I grew up coming to the games here, watching Chris Bosh and a bunch of NBA legends play in this building. It’s always a surreal moment, and having my friends and family in the crowd is even more special.
The Raptors were led by rookie Gradey Dick with 21 points, one shy of his career high, and Kelly Olynyk with 16.
Before the game, Toronto guard Gary Trent Jr. was ruled out with lower back soreness. That left the Raptors without seven players, including all five regular starters.
Toronto’s absentee list also included guard Immanuel Quickley (personal reasons), All-Star forward Scottie Barnes (left hand), center Jakob Poeltl (left pinky), forward RJ Barrett (personal), l forward Chris Boucher (right knee) and guard DJ. Cardboard (right ankle).
Still, Holmgren said the Thunder knew better than to neglect Toronto’s makeshift roster.
“It’s an NBA game with NBA players,” Holmgren said. “They are there for a reason. They have all the motivation in the world to go out there and do what they do. We knew they were going to bring it tonight, so we had to do the same.
Center Jontay Porter returned for the Raptors after suffering Wednesday’s loss to Sacramento due to illness.
The Raptors had a season-worst 27 turnovers. Oklahoma City scored 37 points on those errors, the most Toronto has allowed in any game this season.
“It’s really hard to play when you’re constantly at a disadvantage in transition,” Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said.
The Thunder finished with 17 steals, the third-most of any NBA team this season.
Dick scored 13 points in the first, his highest total in a single quarter, as Toronto led 35-28 after one.
Oklahoma City opened the second with a 15-2 run, taking a 45-37 lead on Giddey’s 3-pointer with 9:08 left in the half.
“The group that started the second quarter really stimulated the game physically,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “On the defensive side, we made a number of stops at the start of this period to take the advantage and get out of the break.”
The Thunder led 63-56 at halftime and took an 89-78 lead into the fourth.
FOLLOWING
Thunder: Visit the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night.
Raptors: Visit the Washington Wizards on Saturday night.
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