NBA: Toronto Raptors overcome Kevin Durant’s 51 points to defeat Golden State Warriors 131-128

The Toronto Raptors withstood a 51-point performance from Kevin Durant to beat two-time defending champions Golden State 131-128 in overtime Thursday in a game billed as a possible NBA Finals preview.

Kawhi Leonard scored 37 points and Pascal Siakam added a career high 26 for the Raptors, who notched a seventh straight victory to improve their league-leading record to 19-4 in front of a jubilant home crowd.

The Warriors, playing without injured stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, fell to 15-8 as they endured their fifth straight road defeat.

Durant, who also grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out six assists, notched his third straight game of at least 40 points – a first in his career.

Klay Thompson added 23 points and Jonas Jerebko produced 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Warriors erased a double-digit deficit only to come up short.

After Kyle Lowry’s three-pointer with 56 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter put the Raptors up 119-113, Durant responded with two three-pointers, knotting the score at 119-119 with nine seconds left.

Coming out of a time out, the Raptors were unable to get a shot off before the final buzzer and it went to overtime.

Danny Green’s three-pointer with 2:07 in the extra session put Toronto up 126-123 and the Warriors wouldn’t get the deficit below three points from there – the Raptors stretching their lead when Lowry came up with a steal from Andre Iguodala and benefitting again when Iguodala was whistled for travelling.

The first half had offered little to predict the late-game drama as the Raptors jumped to an early lead.

Leonard made his first six shots of the contest, scoring 13 points in the first quarter when Toronto out-scored the Warriors 38-25.

The Raptors led 67-58 at halftime. They took a 96-88 lead into the final period and were up by 10 with less than five minutes to play.

Lowry finished with 10 points and 12 assists and Serge Ibaka added 20 for the Raptors, who had lost eight straight against the Warriors since last beating them in March 2014.