TORONTO -- DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points, and Lou Williams had nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as the Toronto Raptors defeated the injury-riddled Oklahoma City Thunder 100-88 on Tuesday.

Patrick Patterson had 14 points and eight rebounds, while Tyler Hansbrough had 12 points, and Greivis Vasquez finished with 10 for Toronto (3-1), which was missing Amir Johnson for the second straight game (sore ankle).

Serge Ibaka carried Oklahoma City (1-4), which dressed just eight players and was missing -- among others -- Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Ibaka played a whopping 46 minutes, scoring 25 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Lance Thomas had 14 points, while Reggie Jackson finished with 13.

Raptors coach Dwane Casey had predicted the game would be a "nightmare," and he clearly knew what he was talking about as the Thunder led for almost the entire first half, and were in the game until the dying minutes.

"They're dangerous. It's a wounded animal and Scott (Brooks, the Thunder's head coach) is going to have those guys playing hard. So it's not lost on me at all," Casey said pre-game.

"I've said this for weeks, we have no right to walk in and look at anybody and think its going to be an easy game."

The Raptors took a narrow 73-70 lead into the fourth quarter, and didn't go up by double digits until Williams' three-pointer with 9:23 to go put them up 83-72.

Toronto would lead by as much as 16 before the Thunder pulled within seven with three minutes to play, but that's as close as the visitors would come.

Sebastian Telfair was called for a flagrant foul and ejected with just under two minutes to play, leaving the Thunder to finish the game with just six men. (A right knee contusion had already taken Perry Jones out of the game early in the second half).

Injury-bitten Oklahoma City is off to its worst start since going 1-15 in 2008-09. Durant -- who sat courtside in a stylish blue suit and a protective walking boot -- has a broken right foot, while Westbrook has a broken right hand. The Thunder was also without starting guard Andre Roberson, who sprained his foot a night earlier in the Thunder's 116-85 loss to Brooklyn.

Still, it was the Raptors who staggered out to the lacklustre start. They allowed Oklahoma City to hit eight of their first nine shots of the game to take a nine-point lead. The Thunder, which shot 71 per cent in the frame, went into the second leading 30-23.

The Raptors' second unit pulled Toronto to within two points midway through the second, and then on Toronto's last possession of the quarter, with 29 seconds on the clock, Lowry fired a pass from halfcourt to a soaring Ross who finished the alley-oop, sending the Raptors into the break trailing 52-51.

A layup by Lowry just under a minute into the second half gave Toronto a one-point lead -- the Raptors' first lead since the opening two minutes of the game. A bucket by Hansbrough gave the Raptors a seven-point advantage with 1:23 to play, but the scrappy Thunder battled back to cut Toronto's lead to 73-70 with a quarter left to play.

The Raptors weren't immune to the injury bug Thursday, losing Jonas Valanciunas just before halftime when he collided with someone and suffered a facial contusion.

The Raptors were coming off a 107-102 loss at Miami on Sunday.

The Raptors are in Boston on Wednesday to play the Celtics then back home to host the Washington Wizards on Friday and the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday.