The Oklahoma City Thunder struggled on Monday in their third game in a four-day span as they hosted the Golden State Warriors, and tonight the Thunder’s stiff competition continues as they host the Toronto Raptors, one of the league’s hottest teams.
The Raptors are just three years removed from winning an NBA championship, but they are right in the thick of a restructure as Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, and other key pieces have moved on to other organizations. Fred Van Vleet is the floor general now, and Pascal Siakim is still a young star, but it hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies in Toronto.
After a 6-3 start to the season which featured a 5-game win streak, the Raptors proceeded to go 3-10 over their next 13 before reaching a 9-13 overall record on November 30th. Toronto went all of December without breaking .500, but in January they managed to turn things around, and now the Raptors are riding a 6-game win streak and have won 8 of their last 10.
When the Thunder and the Raptors mets in Toronto in early December, OKC was able to sneak away with a 110-109 victory, but that was behind a 26-point effort by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA is still out with a sprained ankle, and we’re not likely to see his return until at least after the All-Star Break, but Luguentz Dort has put in a number of admirable performances in his absence, so between him and the rest of the young squad, OKC hopes to make this another close matchup. Also, it should be fun to see the Thunder’s rookie Josh Giddey and the Raptors’ rookie Scottie Barnes meet once again.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Tre Mann
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Derrick Favors
Raptors
- PG: Fred Van Vleet
- SG: Gary Trent
- SF: OG Anunoby
- PF: Scottie Barnes
- C: Pascal Siakim
Injuries
Thunder
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Vit Krejci is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Mike Muscala is OUT (right ankle soreness).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (third metatarsal fracture in right foot).
- Isaiah Roby is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Aaron Wiggins is OUT (sprained right ankle).
Raptors
- Isaac Bonga is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Justin Champagnie is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Goran Dragic is OUT (not with team).
- David Johnson is OUT (G League — two-way).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 15-10 against the Raptors in the regular season (7-7 at home, 8-3 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 is 1-0 against the Raptors so far this season (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).