Adams responds after Paul delivers lecture
floor cleanup crew scrambling and gave the Thunder a 66-61 lead.
‘‘I can’t say enough about Lu,’’ Paul said. ‘‘He makes all the plays that nobody else would. That steal he got – I just thought about it. And that dunk.’’
Paul was fouled on a made three-pointer, and his free throw put Oklahoma City up 72-65. The Thunder took a 78-77 edge into the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma City, as they have done often this season, took over in the final period. A dunk by Nerlens Noel on a lob from Schroder put the Thunder up 95-85 then a dunk by Adams gave them a 109-97 edge with just under two minutes remaining.
Adams scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, one of eight Thunder players to score in the period.
‘‘If you got it going, we’re going to get it to them,’’ Paul said. ‘‘And we just take what’s open.’’
■ Pascal Siakam had 37 points and 12 rebounds and the Toronto Raptors beat the Phoenix Suns 118-101 for their 16th victory in 17 games.
Serge Ibaka scored 16 points, Fred VanVleet and Terence Davis each had 14, Kyle Lowry had 13 points and 10 assists and OG Anunoby added 12 points for the defending NBA champion Raptors.
After Toronto’s franchiserecord 15-game winning streak ended with a loss at Brooklyn in the final game before the All-Star break, the Raptors bounced back by starting the second half of the season with their eighth consecutive home victory.
The Raptors have not lost back-to-back games since an overtime loss at Indiana on December 23 and a home loss to Boston on Christmas Day. Toronto have gone 19-1 since.
Siakam connected on 12 of 19 attempts, slotting five of nine from three-point range.
That was just one fewer than the six three-pointers the Suns managed on 34 attempts. Phoenix shot 17.6 per cent from long range, their lowest mark of the season. No Suns player made more than one shot from distance.
Devin Booker scored 21 points and DeAndre Ayton had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix. The Suns lost for the seventh time in nine games.
Ayton returned to the starting lineup after missing the final two games before the All-Star break because of a sore left ankle.
Phoenix trailed 93-78 through three quarters, but the Suns cut the gap to six points, 96-90 on a basket by Ayton with 8:08 left. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson made a pair from the line, and VanVleet and Siakam both scored to put the Raptors up 102-90 with 6:58 remaining.
Booker missed a three with 4:45 left that would have made it a four-point game. Anunoby scored on a dunk and, after another missed three by the Suns, Ibaka banked home a three-pointer to restore Toronto’s 12-point cushion.
■ All-Star Luka Doncic did his usual thing in Orlando and got some unexpected help from teammate Maxi Kleber.
Doncic finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as the Dallas Mavericks cruised past the Magic 122-106.
Kleber added a career-high 26 points off the bench as the Mavericks improved to 19-8 on the road this season. They won just 18 road games the last two seasons combined.
‘‘I probably never had a night like that in the NBA,’’ said Gerrman Kleber, playing his third season in the league. ‘‘I didn’t really even notice. It just sort of happened.’’
Kristaps Porzingis chipped in 24 points and Tim Hardaway Jr scored 16 points.
Evan Fournier led Orlando with 28 points. Nikola Vucevic had 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Terrence Ross scored 19 points for the Magic, who were doomed by another dismal shooting night. Orlando made just nine of 43 attempts from three-point range and shot just 39 per cent from the floor.
Kleber ended up making three of six from behind the three-point line.
AP