Toronto Raptors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Canada’s best player comes to Scotiabank Arena

With a win, the Raptors would achieve their first three-game streak of the season.

The Toronto Raptors are... good? Okay, maybe not good good, but better than we thought! Between injuries to Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and now Gradey Dick, the Raptors have not had a healthy starting lineup this season. They traded away their best players of the last few seasons and are ostensibly in full rebuild mode.

And yet, after a few weeks of moral victories resulting mostly in actual losses, the return of Scottie Barnes has pushed some of those results into the win column, with the Raptors winning five of their last eight games. To put it succinctly: they are overachieving, and it is a joy to watch.

But tonight, the Raptors host the Oklahoma City Thunder — a team that is not just good in a fun, young and unexpected way, but in more of a “Let’s go win a title” kind of way. The Raptors have played competitive basketball against title contenders this season, including a buzzer-beater OT loss to the Boston Celtics. Can they give the Thunder a scare?

Here are the details for tonight’s game.

Where to Watch:

Sportsnet, 7:30 PM EST

Lineups:

Toronto: Scottie Barnes, Ja’Kobe Walter, RJ Barrett, Ochai Agbaji, Jakob Poeltl

Oklahoma City: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein

Injuries:

Toronto: Immanuel Quickley — elbow (OUT), Bruce Brown — knee (OUT), Kelly Olynyk — back (OUT), Gradey Dick — calf (questionable)

Oklahoma City: Chet Holmgren — hip (OUT), Jaylin Williams — hamstring (OUT), Ousmane Dieng — finger (OUT), Alex Ducas — undisclosed (OUT), Nikola Topić — knee (out for season)

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Pizza Party?!

Last season, when the Raptors finally completed their first (and only) three-game winning streak in late February, head coach Darko Rajakovic kept his promise of holding a celebratory pizza party. Tonight, the Raptors have a shot at three in a row and — if last season’s rules are still in place — more pizza. Granted, the Raptors are facing a tough opponent. But with Scottie Barnes healthy — he’s averaging 26 points, 10.4 rebounds and 8.4 assists over the last five games — is it possible that they’re too good to (ethically) tank?

In Their Defense

Coming off a game in which the Raptors capitalized on the Pacers’ poor defensive effort, they’ll now have to gear up to face what is not only the best defense in the NBA, but also — through a quarter of the season — possibly one of the most dominant defenses in league history, according to the “Relative Defensive Efficiency” metric. Plus, Alex Caruso will likely make his return after missing a couple weeks, and recently healthy big man Isaiah Hartenstein is gelling with his teammates quickly. The Raptors’ offense has its work cut out for them.

Canada’s Prodigal Son

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returns to Scotiabank Arena for the first time since an Olympic run in Paris that, while ultimately ending in disappointment, featured some beautiful Shai performances and a clean sweep in the group stage. As you can imagine, it is much more fun cheering for the MVP candidate than for the team desperately trying to guard him. So far, he’s essentially matching his averages from last year (a casual 30-6-6). But beyond the numbers, it is simply mesmerizing to watch him operate and slither to find angles around defenders. Let’s see if Davion “Off Night” Mitchell can make his job a little harder.