Raptors streak halted
Toronto left fuming after loss to Oklahoma City ends record-tying run of wins
The Toronto Raptors’ attempt at a franchise-record 12 straight wins imploded in the dying seconds Sunday.
When the dust finally settled, the Oklahoma City Thunder had prevailed 132-125 and the Raptors were missing coach Dwane Casey, DeMar DeRozan and Serge Ibaka, who were all ejected with 8.1 seconds left. Star point guard Kyle Lowry fouled out with 3:18 remaining.
Tied at 125-125 with 54.9 seconds remaining, Oklahoma City scored the last seven points as the Raptors let their emotions get the better of them.
Russell Westbrook led the OKC charge, scoring 37 points and recording his 102nd career triple-double as the Thunder (43-29) won their sixth straight and ninth of 11. Westbrook had 14 assists and 13 rebounds for his fifth consecutive tripledouble and his 23rd of the season. Only Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138) and Jason Kidd (107) have more triple-doubles.
Toronto (52-18) was left fuming as security escorted the officials of the floor amidst a cacophony of boos from the sellout crowd of 19,800.
While a stone-faced Casey said he would complain about the officiating through the proper channels - “All we want to ask for is fairness and consistency” - DeRozan did not pull any punches.
“Man, they need to do something,” DeRozan said of the officiating. “Because it’s not just us, it’s every game. But tonight? Come on, man. That can’t happen. Can’t happen.”
DeRozan’s emotions bubbled over when, with some 30 seconds remaining and the Raptors trailing 127-125, there was no call on OKC’s Corey Brewer on a DeRozan layup attempt.
“He smacked me,” DeRozan said with feeling. “He tried to smack me because I had a layup. Period. I got fouled.”
Asked if the officiating cost them the game, DeRozan replied: “What did you think? You think so? It’s obvious for us.”
Lowry supported DeRozan but was careful not to pour gasoline on the fire.
“I’ve got my dog’s back, no matter what he’s saying,” said Lowry. “I’m riding with my dog, no matter what.”
Casey said the game got out of hand at the end but declined to criticize the officials openly saying “We made enough mistakes down the stretch also.”
“We shot ourselves in the foot, we missed some easy shots, layups, free throws, turnovers. And that’s a good team,” he said of the Thunder. “But we’ll complain in the right, proper way of how the game is called. And again officials are going to miss calls. But at the juncture of the game where some of the calls were made, we’ve got to get it right around the league. Not just this game, but our entire league.”
The Raptors were called for 25 fouls, compared to 24 for the Thunder. And Casey acknowledged his team got frustrated late in the game and could have handled things better.
“It’s a four-point game. We can’t allow it to get out of hand like that.”
Westbrook scored 17 of his 37 points in a fourth quarter that saw the Thunder outscore the Raptors 35-27.
A Westbrook two-pointer with 12.3 seconds remaining and three free throws on the string of technicals sealed the OKC win.