RAPTORS HOLD OFF LATE THUNDER SURGE
OKC charges back from 30-point deficit before Lowry hits key shots to seal victory
Blown leads have been dogging the Raptors like that cold you just can’t seem to shake.
Well, the Raptors found the cure ... but just. They held a 30-point lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder midway through the second quarter and needed almost every point in the end.
The Thunder whittled that lead all the way down to three points with 2:39 to go before the Raptors tuned out the crowd and Kyle Lowry went into no-lose mode.
Lowry hit the final two shots for the Raptors, part of a 17-point night, as they staved off the third major rally by an opponent in the past four games.
Instead it goes in the books as a nervy but well earned 130-121 win for Toronto.
The Raptors looked shaken at times, but they stayed the course and got contributions from just about everyone they needed.
Not even a 12-0 run to end the half by a suddenly engaged OKC squad could knock this one out of the win column.
Oh, the Thunder still made them work, and probably took a year or two off Nick Nurse’s life, as the hosts refused to quit despite facing a double-digit deficit for most of the game.
Raptors rookie Terence Davis II in particular seemed to get going exactly when he was most needed, but it took a rather public tongue-lashing from his charter plane partner Serge Ibaka to get there.
Ibaka furiously gestured at Davis after the first-year player sent him back a pass with next to no time on the shot clock to force a turnover. On his way to the bench, Ibaka let Davis know exactly what he thought of the play.
Davis seemed to channel the criticism in the best possible way — by taking out his frustrations on the Thunder.
Davis was one of seven Raptors in double digits. They were led by 23 from Norm Powell, who contributed big basket after big basket. Powell, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby were all in the 20s in scoring in this one.
For the game, the Raptors shot a season-high 61.2 per cent from the field and almost 57 per cent from three.
The Raps now head home for a date with the Washington Wizards on Friday before going back on the road for games against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday and Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
ON THE WAY
Fred VanVleet should be back in uniform at some point this weekend, according to Nurse. The Raptors point guard has missed four games so far this stretch with a strained hamstring. His return will bring the Raptors all but back to full health. Dewan Hernandez remains out with a right ankle sprain.
With a plethora of options at his disposal for really the first time since the Raptors’ injury train started boarding passengers on Nov. 8, expect to see Nurse start flexing his creative powers when it comes to lineups.
He didn’t wait for VanVleet’s return to start the creativity Wednesday night as he went to a big a lineup. Beside Lowry, the starters were Anunoby, Siakam, Ibaka and the returning Marc Gasol.
Nurse made it clear he’s going to be tinkering with the lineup for at least the next little while.
“Some guys will start tonight that probably won’t start the next night,” Nurse said before he was knew for sure who was starting against OKC. “I really think you’re going to see us shift the lineups around over the course of the next 10 games.”
Nurse would have done this earlier, but the injuries got in the way.
“I think it’s time to start honing that in a little bit, and I think it starts with a lot of experimenting,” Nurse said. “And I think we want to be flexible. It’s not easy to do. Everybody wants to start and all that kind of stuff, but we want to be flexible. Again, you get into one (playoff ) series and you’re going to go one way. Then you get into the next series and you’re going another way. I don’t feel that’s the time to start being flexible. I think we have to build some of that in now as we go.”