The Oklahoma City Thunder continue the portion of their season playing without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Tuesday night as they take on the Raptors. SGA, Jalen Williams, and Ajay Mitchell remain out, Alex Caruso may miss another game as he is listed as questionable, and Chet Holmgren may miss due to lower back spasms. Regardless of who can go, the Thunder has competed well with, and they picked up a big win at home on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers. A major reason for that win was an early lead fueled by three-point shotmaking, but OKC might need to lean more on points in the paint tonight in Toronto.
OKC is right in the middle of the league in average points scored in the paint, and the Raptors do a solid job of keeping teams from scoring down there, but the Thunder can move the ball and threaten from outside, which could open opportunities down low. Don’t be surprised if Isaiah Hartenstein has a good game, regardless of whether or not Chet Holmgren can go.
Toronto is sitting comfortably at the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, three games ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers, and that is largely due to their balanced scoring. Five players average double digits, so OKC’s defense will have to be on top of things to shut down Brandon Ingram, Scottie Barnes, and RJ Barrett in particular. Immanuel Quickley has had some high-scoring games this season, as well, so the Raptors have plenty of weapons.
OKC’s shotmaking often plays a key role in their chances of winning games, but the defense is the engine that runs this team. If the Thunder can lock in on defense early, then they should be able to escape Toronto with another solid win.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6:30 PM CT
Location: Scotiabank Arena (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Television: FanDuel Sports Network – 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: Cason Wallace
- SG: Isaiah Joe
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Raptors
- PG: Immanuel Quickley
- SG: Brandon Ingram
- SF: RJ Barrett
- PF: Scottie Barnes
- C: Collin Murray-Boyles
Injury Report
Thunder
- Alex Caruso (sprained left ankle) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (strained abdominal) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (lower back spasms) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Ajay Mitchell (strained abdominal) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
Raptors
- Chucky Hepburn (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- A.J. Lawson (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Alijah Martin (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Jonathan Mogbo (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Jakob Poeltl (strained lower back injury management) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 21-13 against the Raptors in the regular season (10-8 at home, 11-5 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the regular-season series with the Raptors 6 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).
- OKC is 0-1 against the Raptors so far this season (0-1 at home, 0-0 on the road).