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NBA: Thunder, Raptors, Lakers keep rolling

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The Oklahoma City Thunder extended their winning streak to nine games on Sunday with an easy 122-95 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers – the only team to defeat the defending NBA champions this season.

Oklahoma City (17-1) opened the campaign with eight straight wins before suffering their only loss on November 5 against Portland (7-10).

Since that setback, the Thunder have outscored opponents by an average of 22.3 points during their nine-game run.

Reigning league and NBA Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 37 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals Sunday for Oklahoma City, whose other four starters totalled just 24 points.

Ajay Mitchell shot 8 of 8 from the field and scored 20 off the bench as the Thunder’s reserves combined for 61 points to match the starters’ output.

Jerami Grant led the way with 21 points for the Trail Blazers, who lost for the seventh time in nine games since their victory over the Thunder earlier this month.

Deep Raptors win seventh straight

The Toronto Raptors used a balanced effort to defeat the lowly Brooklyn Nets 119-109 for their seventh consecutive victory.

Toronto (12-5) had eight of their 10 players score in double figures, led by Scottie Barnes’ 17-point, seven-rebound, four-assist, four-block and two-steal performance.

The Atlantic Division-leading Raptors have won 11 of 12 after opening the season with four losses in five games.

On Friday, Toronto became the first team to advance to the quarter-finals of the NBA Cup.

Tyrese Martin had 26 points, Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 and Noah Clowney added 22 for the Nets, who own the fourth-worst record in the NBA at 3-13.

Lakers push winning streak to four games

The Los Angeles Lakers came away with their fourth straight win by getting past the Utah Jazz 108-106 in LeBron James’ first road game of his NBA-record 23rd season.

Luka Doncic led Los Angeles (12-4) with 33 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and three steals, while Austin Reaves scored 22 to go along with 10 boards and four assists.

James made his season debut Tuesday against the Jazz (5-11) in Los Angeles and played 30 minutes after missing training camp and the Lakers’ first 14 games due to sciatica.

He saw 35 minutes of action Sunday and contributed 17 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

The Lakers have won 10 of their last 12 games to take the lead in the Pacific Division.

Keyonte George starred with 27 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the Jazz, who also got 20 points and seven boards from Lauri Markkanen in their 10th defeat in 13 contests.