OKC Thunder Beat Toronto Raptors 121-109 in Chet Holmgren's Return

The Oklahoma City Thunder won the first quarter by 10 points and did not look back from there, beating the Toronto Raptors 121-109 Friday night.

Chet Holmgren played in his first game since Nov. 10, 2024, after suffering a right hip fracture. He made a second-chance layup just over two minutes into the first quarter and found Isaiah Hartenstein for a floater on the next possession.

Holmgren also nailed a turnaround jumper after coming off a Hartenstein pindown screen in his early stint. The sophomore center finished with four points, five rebounds, four blocks, two steals and an assist in 22 minutes.

Jalen Williams recorded a game-high 27 points on 9-for-19 shooting, five rebounds and three assists.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points in 29 minutes, going 5-for-12 from the field and making all 14 free throws. He added six assists, four rebounds and a steal.

Isaiah Joe scorched the nets for 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting, including four 3-pointers. Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso were the Thunder's additional double-digit scorers.

Mark Daigneault reached .500 (184-184) in his Thunder coaching career as Oklahoma City improved to 41-9 this season.

Statistic	Thunder	Raptors
Points	121	109
2-Pointers	34-for-53	20-for-50
3-Pointers	9-for-31	19-for-41
Free Throws	26-for-31	12-for-19
Turnovers	12	12
Offensive Rebounds	11	14

The Thunder started Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Hartenstein and Wiggins.

The Raptors started Immanuel Quickley, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Scottie Barnes and Jonathan Mogbo.

Oklahoma City gave up an open Quickley 3-pointer on the game's first possession and committed three turnovers in its first four trips down the floor. The team settled in from there, going 13-for-18 from the field in the first frame.

Jalen Williams provided the Thunder's early offense, converting a pull-up jumper, alley-oop dunk from Gilgeous-Alexander and an and-one layup on consecutive possessions. He picked up eight first-quarter points on 4-for-5 shooting.

Holmgren and Hartenstein checked out together midway through the quarter — immediately before Gilgeous-Alexander scored his first point on a technical free throw. The All-Star starter racked up 10 more points before the buzzer, including three flagrant free throws and a transition putback dunk. Oklahoma City led 35-25 after 12 minutes.

Alex Caruso caught an alley-oop layup from Jalen Williams to start the second quarter, but the Thunder offense did not score for the next 3:31. Ja'Kobe Walter made the Raptors' sixth 3-pointer and registered a cutting dunk, while Scottie Barnes recorded his first made field goal in that span.

Oklahoma City outscored Toronto 14-7 in Holmgren's five second-quarter minutes. Wiggins made a driving layup, transition triple and two free throws before Gilgeous-Alexander nailed a step-back jumper and found Jaylin Williams for a wide-open dunk. His sixth assist came on a Hartenstein lob with 2:51 before halftime.

Barnes nailed back-to-back threes to cut the Raptors' deficit to eight before Wiggins made another layup due to a goaltending violation. Oklahoma City led 58-47 at the half.

Toronto began the second half with a swished Barnes 3-pointer and second-chance Mogbo dunk. Gilgeous-Alexander responded by making two straight jumpers, including a triple from Wiggins.

Both teams combined for 15 free-throw attempts in the third quarter's first seven minutes. The final one resulted from Holmgren nabbing his second steal from a vulnerable Barnes, leading to an and-one Jalen Williams layup in transition.

Isaiah Joe nailed a long 3-pointer after two Kenrich Williams misses to increase Oklahoma City's lead to 17 points with 1:21 left in the quarter. He then threw down consecutive dunks across quarters, as the Thunder led 90-76 with one frame to go.

Oklahoma City won two straight fourth-quarter challenges, as Hartenstein and Wiggins blocks were overturned to no-calls.

The Thunder takes on the Memphis Grizzlies in FedExForum tomorrow at 7 p.m. CST. It will be the Thunder's 10th back-to-back game this season.

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