Oklahoma City @ Toronto preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 22, 2019 ) Oklahoma City 116, Toronto 109

The Oklahoma City Thunder battled back over .500 with a hard-fought win at Charlotte on Friday. They'll try to move two games over the even mark for the first time this season when they face a stiff test at the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

Behind 27 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and another 24 from Dennis Schroder, Oklahoma City outlasted the Hornets 104-102 in overtime, winning for the 10th time in its last 14 games and claiming their fourth straight victory in a game decided by single digits. "I love it man," guard Chris Paul told reporters of the vibe in close games. "I kept telling Shai, 'All right, it's the fourth quarter and we will turn it on.' And that's the thing that gets your blood flowing, those fourth-quarter situations." The Raptors had a solid stretch run of their own to pull away for a 113-97 win at Boston on Saturday, avenging a Christmas Day loss on their home floor. Kyle Lowry led the way with 30 points as Toronto snapped a two-game losing streak.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma, Sportsnet (Toronto)

ABOUT THE THUNDER (16-15): Gilgeous-Alexander was 10-of-17 from the floor Friday and is averaging 26.4 points over his last five games, but he received praise from coach Billy Donovan for his efforts in creating late turnovers on the other end of the floor. "That was really critical because they had a lead at that point in time and those couple steals kind of got us back in control and we got some momentum," Donovan told reporters of Gilgeous-Alexander's defense, particularly in the post when Oklahoma City went small. "It was two consecutive steals on two post-ups, so those plays were big when we were small." Steven Adams added 14 points and 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double in December.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (22-10): Toronto is 3-2 since losing Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol and Norman Powell all to injuries in the same game, and Lowry is averaging 26.4 points and 8.6 assists in that span, carrying the team in Boston. "You know, they kicked our butts on Christmas," Lowry said in a postgame television interview Saturday. "Tonight was one of those games that was like, look, we got to get back to being us." Serge Ibaka also helped the team bounce back with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting and 10 rebounds in 30 minutes.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Raptors SG Fred VanVleet is shooting 35.6 percent from the floor over a six-game stretch after going 5-for-19 at Boston.

2. Thunder SF Darius Bazley has made one of his 12 shots over the last two contests.

3. Oklahoma City has won four in a row at Toronto.

PREDICTION: Raptors 108, Thunder 106