Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a dominant 129-92 win over the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night.
Jalen Williams added 20 points for the Thunder, who have won two games in a row and six of their last seven. Isaiah Joe contributed 16 points, and Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed 16 rebounds and had six assists.
Ajay Mitchell came off the bench to score 13 points, Aaron Wiggins added 12, and Kenrich Williams chipped in with 10. Alex Caruso returned after missing five games due to a hip injury and scored eight points.
RJ Barrett had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors, who saw their four-game home winning streak come to an end. Scottie Barnes added 12 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists. Jonathan Mogbo also scored 17 points, Gradey Dick, who had missed five games with a calf injury, returned and scored 15 points, while Chris Boucher added 10 points.
The Thunder jumped out to a 34-17 lead after the first quarter and started the second quarter with a 10-4 run. Their lead grew to 26 with 7:21 left in the second when Caruso hit a 3-pointer.
Barrett’s layup cut the deficit to 20 with 4:36 remaining. Later, Dick and Ochai Agbaji hit consecutive 3-pointers to bring the margin down to 17 with 2:29 left. Williams then turned a steal by Cason Wallace into a layup at the buzzer, giving Oklahoma City a 67-42 lead at halftime.
The Thunder, who lead the league with an average of 11.9 steals per game, had nine steals and blocked nine shots in the first half. Oklahoma City shot 50 percent (25-for-50) from the field in the first half, while Toronto struggled at 32.6 percent (15-for-46).
Gilgeous-Alexander, who is from nearby Hamilton, Ontario, made a 15-foot fadeaway jumper to extend the lead to 26 with 9:07 left in the third quarter. Wallace’s dunk and free throw made the lead 30 with 5:27 remaining, and it grew to 36 before Oklahoma City took a 99-65 advantage into the final quarter.
Toronto scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma City responded with a 4-0 run. Jakob Poeltl missed the game for Toronto due to illness.
