Thunder tames Toronto
Another away game ends in OKC’s favor, 123-102.
TORONTO — From just across halfcourt, Russell Westbrook spiked a bounce pass so precise, it ducked under the knee of Raptors point guard Cory Joseph, running back on defense.
Near the 3-point line, the pass found Victor Oladipo as if magnetized. He cradled it and cruised for a layup. It was emblematic of the Thunder’s 123-102 win Thursday at Air Canada Centre, a night when most everything seemed to go right.
“Honesty, I didn’t even know if he was passing it to me or Taj (Gibson),” Oladipo said after the game.
“I was running faster than Taj, so I assumed it was for me. I honestly just looked down — I saw him throw it; I didn’t see how he threw it. I looked down and the ball was just in my hands.”
Lately, things are working that way for Westbrook and Oladipo.
The Thunder’s dominant performance on Thursday — it never trailed and led by as many as 32 points — was a total team effort.
Seven players scored in double figures, including all five Oklahoma City starters.
But the OKC backcourt was front and center, as it has been throughout the Thunder’s current fourgame winning streak.
Westbrook had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists, his 34th triple-double of the season, seven short of tying Oscar Robertson’s singleseason NBA record. Oladipo had 23 points and five rebounds, making 9 of 15 shots and 3 of 3 3-pointers. During Oklahoma City’s four-game winning streak, which includes wins against playoffbound San Antonio, Utah and Toronto, Westbrook is averaging 26.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 15.5 assists. But he’s put up big numbers all season.
Lately, he’s getting strong backcourt support from Oladipo, who’s averaging 21.5 points over the past four games and shooting 56.7 percent from the floor. He’s made 12 of 17 3-pointers in that stretch, unsustainable success from long range. But Oladipo also has attacked the basket. Thursday was the second time in three games that he’s driven for a spectacular dunk.
“I just want him to play aggressive, miss or make,” Westbrook said. “Obviously makes are better. But as long as he’s playing downhill, he’s able to playmake as well. He creates a lot of attention for different teams, and he does a great job of it.”
Oladipo has been great of late, as has the Thunder. His backcourt mate is making that happen.
In four games since a 58-point, 39-shot performance in a loss against Portland, Westbrook has averaged 20.5 shots and the Thunder has scored 115 points per 100 possessions, 10 points higher than its season average.
On Thursday, the Thunder shot 53.4 percent from the floor and made 14 of 25 3-pointers. In addition to Westbrook and Oladipo, it got double-digit scoring games from Enes Kanter (14 points), Andre Roberson (13) and Taj Gibson, Steven Adams and Alex Abrines (10 each).
And though Westbrook and Oladipo led the way, almost everything went OKC’s way against the Raptors. The Thunder had a 17-1 edge in second-chance points and a 14-4 advantage in fast break points. None of those looked quite as sharp as Oladipo’s layup off that nearly impossible Westbrook pass.
“I just saw him and Taj running,” Westbrook said. “They’d been running all night, and my job is to make sure to make the game easy for those guys. Got through a little traffic.”