Siakam helps Raptors beat Thunder for 7th straight win

Pascal Siakam had 27 points and 16 rebounds, Fred VanVleet made six 3-pointers and added 21 points, and the Toronto Raptors beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 117-98 on Wednesday night for their seventh straight victory.

The spark led the Raptors to outscore the Thunder 34-22 in the opening quarter, shooting 68.4% from the field while the Thunder shot just 31.8%.

Aleksej Pokusevski and Theo Maledon scored 18 points apiece for the Thunder. Lu Dort had 15, while Darius Bazley, Josh Giddey and Ty Jerome all had 13.

The Thunder ended the half on a 9-3 run but the Raptors led by eight points.

VanVleet began to find his rhythm in the second half, outscoring the Thunder 7-2 to open the third quarter. He finished with 10 points in the period and the Raptors' lead grew to 87-72.

The Thunder beat the Raptors 110-109 on Dec. 9, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 26 points and Mike Muscala hitting a go-ahead 3-pointer. But neither Gilgeous-Alexander (right ankle sprain) nor Muscala (right ankle soreness) suited up on Wednesday night.