They almost pulled it off.
Down by 30 late in the second quarter, Oklahoma City put together yet another second-half comeback that saw them draw within one with 2:09 left in the game.
But the Raptors finished on an 8-0 run to escape Chesapeake Energy Arena with a 130-121 win on Wednesday night.
Toronto had seven players in double-digits, including former Thunder forward, Serge Ibaka, who finished with 15. The Raptors were led by Norman Powell, who came off the bench to score 23.
Oklahoma City’s leading scorer also came off the bench, as Dennis Schroder lived up to his reputation as one of, if not the, best sixth man in the country. Schroder scored a game-high 25 on 10-of-17 shooting and hit 5 of his 10 three-point attempts.
A game removed from his historic triple-double, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out six assists, and creating three steals.
Three other players were in double-digits for OKC, Danilo Gallinari with 23, Mike Muscala with 17, and Chris Paul with 16.
Steven Adams played only seven minutes and, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, was ruled out at the half with a right knee contusion. Without Adams, and already missing Nerlens Noel who is still sidelined with an ankle sprain, Toronto dominated the points in the paint, outscoring Oklahoma City 62-48.
Steven Adams (right knee contusion) is out for the rest of the game, per the Thunder.
— Joe Mussatto (@joe_mussatto) January 16, 2020
The Thunder and Raptors split their regular-season series, they will not play against each other for the rest of the year.
Oklahoma City falls to 23-18 and is back in action on Friday when they host the Miami Heat.