Tip-Off: 6:30 PM CT
Location: Scotiabank Arena (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Television: Bally Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live-tweets and discussion during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder ended an 8-game losing streak on Monday with a 114-103 win over the Pistons in Detroit which featured a spectacular 4th quarter comeback. The Thunder caught fire in the final period, making 13 straight field goals, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned from concussion protocol to finish the night with a career-high 13 assists. Tonight, the Thunder wraps up a 3-game road trip in Toronto as they take on the Raptors.
The Raptors have had a bit of an up and down season so far. After starting off 6-3 thanks to a 5-game win streak, Toronto then went on to lose 10 of their next 13 before winning their last 2 to move to 11-13 on the season. The Raptors have some veteran talent and experience, but they’ve also got some youth, including rookie forward Scottie Barnes. Barnes was selected by Toronto with the 4th pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, just 2 picks before the Thunder’s Josh Giddey.
While OKC has found success against the Raptors in Scotiabank Arena, winning 5 of the last 6 matchups there, the last 4 meetings have been decided by no more than 7 points. Toronto is a 7-point favorite tonight, but I expect the Thunder will stick to the trend of recent years and keep it even closer than that.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Josh Giddey
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Jeremiah Robinson-Earl
Pistons
- PG: Fred VanVleet
- SG: Gary Trent
- SF: Scottie Barnes
- PF: Pascal Siakim
- C: Precious Achiuwa
Injuries
Thunder
- Vit Krejci is OUT (G League — On Assignment).
- Aaron Wiggins is OUT (G League — Two-Way).
Raptors
- OG Anunoby is OUT (left hip pointer).
- Khem Birch is OUT (right knee swelling).
- Goran Dragic is OUT (personal reasons).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 14-10 against the Raptors in the regular season (7-7 at home, 7-3 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the regular season series with the Raptors 5 times, lost it once, and tied it 7 times.
- The Thunder went 1-1 against the Raptors last season (1-0 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- The Thunder has won 5 of the last 6 matchups with the Raptors at Scotiabank Arena.