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For his part Gasol is just happy to be playing the game he is most familiar with and most confident of winning with.

“If we keep playing the same way — playing unselfish, playing for one another. Sacrificing on both ends of the floor. If we keep doing that over and over again, good things normally happen.”

It also wasn’t a coincidence that the Raptors’ struggles in the fourth quarter Sunday night — by far their worst quarter in which they were outscored 32-18 — coincided with a lack of the ball movement compared to what they had demonstrated in the first three quarters.

“It’s fun to play that way because everyone is in rhythm,” Gasol said of the constantly moving basketball. “Everyone has a decision to make on every play and we are all unselfish to let it go through our hands and create a shot or create a movement or cut or screen for someone else. It is fun to play that way.

“I like it too because it translates defensively,” Gasol said. “When guys are unselfish offensively normally defensively you will take that step closer to your teammate and be willing to help them because everything is connected.”

Right now the Raptors are very much connected and plan on becoming more so over the final nine games.

Oklahoma City Thunder (42-30) at Toronto Raptors (51-21)

7:30 p.m., Scotiabank Arena, TV: SNET ONE; RADIO: FAN590

SCOUTING REPORT

A rare back-to-back with the same opponent will give coach Nick Nurse a pre-playoff taste of planning for and against the same team in consecutive games. It doesn’t happen often in the NBA’s regular season and the timing of it couldn’t be better for the Raptors, who want to be firing on all cylinders in a few weeks time when the playoffs open. An OT win in OKC was both impressive and a little discouraging. Impressive in that for almost 44 minutes the Raptors completely dominated the game. Discouraging because they dropped their guard in the final 3 1/2 and let the Thunder force overtime. There was redemption in the extra frame as Toronto once again dominated. Nurse had hoped to limit the turnovers, which didn’t really happen, but the Raptors did manage to match OKC in the turnover department so it was a wash.