TORONTO - Toronto Raptors forward Hedo Turkoglu shattered the sombre quiet of a defeated dressing room, bellowing for an assistant when he returned from the showers to complain, "I can't find my underwear."
It was not immediately clear whether the missing briefs were recovered, though it would seem to be possible they had been lost out on the court in the storm that had enveloped the Raptors Friday night.
Toronto was routed 115-89 at home by the Oklahoma City Thunder, left exposed by a sluggish start and an inability to contain a faster, more athletic team.
The Raptors have lost 10 of their last 12 games, continuing an ill-timed slump in the middle of what should be a push toward an NBA playoff berth. Toronto (33-34) holds the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 15 games left on its regular season schedule.
"They pretty much just kicked our ass today, I mean, there's really no nice way of putting it," Raptors forward Chris Bosh said. "We didn't respond. We didn't impose our will. We didn't resist them at all, and you can't do that, because this team is going to play hard and they're going to play their basketball."
Kevin Durant led the way with 31 points for Oklahoma City (42-25), which has won six of its last seven games, on top of sweeping the season series with Toronto. The Thunder pulled down a season-high 20 offensive rebounds, and fans at the Air Canada Centre stood and booed as the clock expired in the fourth quarter.
"Teams have tough nights," Durant said. "We've had our tough nights. It happens in our league. I think we came out with a lot of energy today ... they're far from a soft team."
Jeff Green added 25 points, and Russell Westbrook had 11 points and 10 assists for the Thunder, fifth in the Western Conference.
Bosh led the Raptors 22 points and 10 rebounds, his 43rd double-double of the season. Andrea Bargnani added 15 points.
Turkoglu, who was jeered by the home fans as early as the first quarter, finished with only five points in almost 17 minutes of playing time.
Toronto players and coaches had slinked from the court at halftime under a hail of jeers from an increasingly agitated home crowd. Not only were the Raptors behind by more than 25 points, they were also being out-rebounded, out-worked and out-played in every meaningful facet of the game.
Oklahoma City seemed to hit at the heart of Toronto's greatest weaknesses. The Thunder held a 14-point lead after the first quarter thanks in no small part to a dozen points gained from 13 free-throw attempts.
Raptors guard Jose Calderon committed a trio of turnovers in the first quarter. Turkoglu missed his first two field goal attempts and was recalled to the bench for a long stretch of the second quarter.
Toronto fans erupted in revolt at the end of the half, after Thunder centre Nenad Krstic capped a fast break with an easy dunk. It gave the visitors a 71-44 lead, led by 23 points from Durant, who had not exactly been allowed to slip into the city unnoticed before the game.
The 21-year-old entered the game ranked second in the league with an average of 29.7 points per game. He had nearly matched that average by halftime (23) in Toronto.
"He's turned into a bona fide superstar in this league," Raptors coach Jay Triano told reporters earlier Friday afternoon. "He finds ways to score. He's active. You take one thing away from him, he goes to another."
It was a dreadful display for the Raptors, but remarkably not the worst of the season. Toronto conceded 75 in the first half of a game against Atlanta on Dec. 2.
Oklahoma City's lead continued to grow into the second half, opening a 34-point edge on the end of a three-point jumper from forward Jeff Green.
The Raptors had already lost once to the Thunder this year, a 119-99 loss on Feb. 28 that began to look more and more competitive as the game wore on Friday in Toronto. Durant had been held to a mere 29 points in the first game, but moved at will in the rematch.
"We have to forget that and move on," Triano said after the game.
Notes: Donnie Wahlberg, a founding member of the New Kids on the Block, was seated courtside for the first half, wearing a baseball cap and what appeared to be a very needy mobile device. He smirked and shook his head when he was introduced to the crowd with one of his old hits, "The Right Stuff" playing over the speakers. ... Toronto hits the road for its next two games, with a stop in New Jersey on Saturday and Minnesota on Monday.
8.4°C Not observed 












