Oklahoma City is back out on the road for a couple more road games beginning with a matchup against the Raptors in Toronto on Thursday evening. After clinching a spot in the Knockout Round of the NBA Cup with a win against the Utah Jazz at home on Tuesday, the Thunder will play their 5th road game in the last 6 outings.
Alex Caruso is set to make his return to action after missing a few games due to a strained right hip, so it will be nice to add his defensive presence back to the backcourt. OKC sits atop the Western Conference standings while Toronto is near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Still, the Raptors have won 2 in a row and 3 of their last 4. While Toronto’s record is just 7-15, they have played a number of teams a lot closer than expecting, including taking the Boston Celtics to overtime just a couple of weeks ago.
Raptors guard Scottie Barnes has missed some time due to an orbital bone fracture, but with his return, Toronto is going to remain competitive. Still, the Thunder has a lot of depth, and it continues to grow as head coach Mark Daigneault gives playing time to rookies who are developing at a great pace.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6:30 PM CT
Location: Scotiabank Arena (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Television: FanDuelTV – Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Toronto Raptors Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Raptors
- PG: Scottie Barnes
- SG: Gradey Dick
- SF: RJ Barrett
- PF: Ochai Agbaji
- C: Jakob Poeltl
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng (small fracture in right ring finger) is OUT.
- Alex Ducas (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (fractured right iliac wing) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left ACL surgery recovery) is OUT.
- Jaylin Williams (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
Raptors
- Jamison Battle (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Bruce Brown (return to competition conditioning) is OUT.
- D.J. Carton (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Ulrich Chomche (G league — two-way) is OUT.
- Gradey Dick (left calf contusion) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Kelly Olynyk (strained back) is OUT.
- Immanuel Quickley (partial UCL tear in left elbow) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 19-12 against the Raptors in the regular season (9-7 at home, 10-5 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 10 times.
- The Thunder went 2-0 against the Raptors last season (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).