The night started with a celebration. For a moment, it seemed the faithful inside Chesapeake Energy Arena might get to have an encore.
On the night the Thunder retired it’s first player’s number, the 4 worn by Nick Collison, a late fourth quarter charge made what had been a constant Toronto Raptors lead over the first 40 minutes begin to evaporate. By holding the explosive Raptors to just 3 points in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, the Thunder set a tone for the final frame.
Despite only scoring 6 points of its own during that opening part of the quarter, the Thunder hung around long enough to sprint to the finish to tie the game at 110 with a 13-2 closing run, fueled by a made three-pointer and three free throws by Paul George then a coast to coast driving layup for Russell Westbrook with 4.