Thunder Travels to Canada, Crushes Raptors

Originally Published: Mar 19, 2010 9:16 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

TORONTO – The Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Toronto Raptors in every facet of the game Friday on the way to a 115-89 victory.

The Thunder (42-25) had already scored 97 points by the end of the third quarter and led by 32 going into the final frame. OKC benched all of its starters in the final quarter, resulting in a total of 11 different Thunder players recording points.

Oklahoma City trailed 17-15 in the first quarter, but went on a 21-6 run that sparked a huge scoring surge at the end of the quarter. The Thunder led 39-25 after the quarter and scored 71 points in the first half, setting season highs for first-quarter and first-half scoring.

OKC also dominated the glass all night, outrebounding the Raptors 53-37. The Thunder pulled down 20 offensive boards – setting another season high – and seven different players recorded five or more rebounds.

The Thunder forced 19 turnovers and turned them into 24 points. OKC scored a total of 34 fast-break points to the Raptors’ 10.

Kevin Durant led all scorers with 31 points, and Jeff Green added 25. Russell Westbrook scored 11 and dished out 10 assists. He now has 10 point-assist double-doubles since the All-Star break, the second most in the NBA.

Replacing the injured James Harden, Kyle Weaver shot 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point line to score 12 points off the bench. He also had three rebounds, a team-high three steals and two blocks.

Chris Bosh led Toronto (33-34) with 22 points and Andrea Bargnani scored 15, but no other Raptor starter scored more than five points.

The Thunder’s 26-point victory is just two points shy of its largest margin of victory this season, which it set on Nov. 8 against Orlando. OKC will finish its three-game road trip at 1:30 p.m. Sunday against Indiana.