Tip-Off: 7:00 PM CST
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma City, OK)
Television: FSOK
Radio: The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @TheThunderGuys for live-tweets during the game
Player to Watch
SG DeMar DeRozan leads the NBA in scoring right now with 33.7 points per game on 52.4% shooting from the field while also averaging 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Victor Oladipo will likely start off defending DeRozan, but Andre Roberson could also see some time covering him. DeRozan is not a particularly good three-point shooter, so the Thunder will need to be aware of him driving to the basket and getting in the paint.
Keys to the Game
- Shoot the Ball: The Toronto Raptors are fantastic defensively allowing only 43.8% of opposing shots to go in, but what they really do well is limiting the number of shot attempts. Oklahoma City loves to shoot the ball, and they cannot be afraid to do that tonight. Efficient shooting is always essential to a win, but the Thunder may need to put up a large volume of shots tonight.
- Dominate the Boards: Toronto ranks 24th in the league in rebounding, while Oklahoma City ranks 8th, so the Thunder should do everything they possibly can to out-rebound the Raptors, especially on the offensive end so they can take advantage of second-chance scoring opportunities.
- Force Turnovers: The Raptors take extremely good care of the ball as they rank 2nd in the league in turnovers per game with 12.2. The Thunder defense has done a fantastic job lately, forcing opponents into 16.4 turnovers a game, and they will need to continue this trend and force Toronto into making mistakes.
Article written by Zack Low. Follow @TheThunderGuys on Twitter and Instagram.