Toronto had possibilities, however fell in double extra time
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On the best way to what would have been one of the inspiring wins of a poor season, the Toronto Raptors discovered why the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder is a title contender.
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Up by as many as 23 factors on the street towards the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-led powerhouse, the Raptors as an alternative gave up one open three-pointer after one other and noticed the lead fully evaporate. The guests nonetheless had loads of possibilities, although, with the sport going to double extra time, however couldn’t pull up the upset. Oklahoma Metropolis escaped with a 135-127 win to maintain up with Minnesota atop the Western Convention. Toronto misplaced for the eleventh time in 13 video games.
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Gilgeous-Alexander completed with 23 factors, 14 assists and 9 rebounds, 4 different Thunder gamers scored at the least 20, and the crew hoisted up practically twice as many three-pointers because the Raptors, which negated an enormous Toronto free throw benefit.
RJ Barrett led Toronto with 23, however rimmed out a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds left in regulation. Scottie Barnes and Dennis Schroder added 19 every.
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The ultimate 1:09 of regulation was wild. Immanuel Quickley scored a layup to place the Raptors up by two factors, however after three straight misses, two by the Thunder, Barrett grabbed a rebound however misplaced the ball out of bounds, giving the Thunder one other probability. Aaron Wiggins capitalized, tying the sport with 4.7 seconds left on a layup. Barrett then missed his shot and the sport went to extra time.
Gilgeous-Alexander had one in every of his quieter scoring video games, however he’s an MVP front-runner for a cause and did loads of different issues nicely till stepping up late. Down three with the Raptors seizing some momentum in extra time, the Hamilton native calmly sank a three-pointer with 56.1 seconds left, then stole a move. He was not even near completed, although. Gilgeous-Alexander missed a shot on the following probability, however then blocked Gary Trent Jr. on the buzzer to ship the sport to a second extra time. Gilgeous-Alexander scored or assisted on all the Thunder’s factors within the first extra time. He arrange three extra three-pointers to complete off the Raptors, all whereas taking part in with 5 fouls.
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With Barrett able to play, Toronto went with its 14th completely different beginning lineup this season. Bruce Brown moved to the bench.
The Raptors received out to a shocking 33-23 lead after the primary quarter, due to a balanced assault and nice work on the boards.
The Thunder closed inside 4 within the second, however then the Raptors began heating up from past the arc and went into the break main by 16 towards the surprised hosts.
It received even stranger. Toronto prolonged the result in 23 factors when Barnes hit a three-pointer close to the halfway mark of the third quarter, however the Thunder lastly wakened after that time and received again into the sport. Outdoors capturing was the principle cause why, as Oklahoma Metropolis made 5 of the following six three-pointers within the recreation to tug inside six factors getting into the fourth.
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Rookie centre Chet Holmgren was an issue for the Raptors, particularly within the fourth, when he confirmed off his offensive recreation with a three-pointer and a dunk early on.
The Thunder had not led because it was 8-6, however Montreal’s Lu Dort modified that by placing every kind of stress on the Raptors. The defensive stopper hit a three-pointer, discovered Josh Giddey for a layup to tie the sport, forcing the Raptors to name a timeout after which hit a go-ahead layup after grabbing a rebound following a Toronto miss. The Thunder’s Canadian mixture has been nice for the crew all 12 months and this time Dort stepped up whereas Gilgeous-Alexander was on the bench resting. Not precisely excellent news for a Toronto crew that had completed so nicely to construct up an enormous lead earlier.
Certain sufficient, as soon as Gilgeous-Alexander checked again in he went into facilitator mode, organising a lot of Thunder buckets as he approached a triple-double.
Toronto was coming off one in every of its most dispiriting losses of the season, a blowout by the hands of the Houston Rockets however rallied nicely. Nonetheless, the crew will now must play in New Orleans with out a lot relaxation on Monday night time.
@WolstatSun
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