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To Kevin Durant, an early afternoon start in Toronto against an improving Raptors team was a trap waiting to be sprung on Oklahoma City.
But with a balanced offensive attack, and a defensive correction in the second half, the Thunder steered clear of getting caught.
Russell Westbrook scored 23 points, Durant had 22 and Oklahoma City beat the Raptors 104-92 on Sunday, giving the Thunder a winning start to a stretch that sees them play 11 of 13 on the road…
Serge Ibaka had 19 points and eight rebounds and Kevin Martin scored 16 for Oklahoma City, who came in having played an NBA-low 12 road games this season but improved to 9-4 as visitors…
Nick Collison had 10 points and eight rebounds to help the Thunder win for the fifth time in eight games since their season-long 12-game winning streak.
Oklahoma City is 14-0 this season when at least five players score in double figures.
”Everybody participated, everybody chipped in and everybody did their job,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. ”We’re good when we force the defense to chase the ball around and the ball finds a good shot. It’s not really who finds it, just as long as it’s a good shot.”
Westbrook and Durant each had seven assists. For Durant, that was his most since dishing out a career-high 10 against Golden State on Nov. 18…
Alan Anderson scored 19 of his career-high 27 points in the second quarter and Amir Johnson had 19 for the Raptors, who lost their second straight after winning eight of nine.
”I praised our guys, the way we fought and scrapped,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. ”But at the end of day reality set in.”
DeMar DeRozan scored 11 points but made just four of 16 field goal attempts. DeRozan made only 3 of 11 attempts in Friday’s loss to Sacramento.
— Reported by Ian Harrison of the Associated Press
