Gameday: Raptors @ Thunder, January 25
The five-game road trip comes to an end in Oklahoma, as the Raptors will look to push their five-game road trip to four wins in a row against the defending champions. Will Toronto end the trip on a high, or will they have to settle for a respectable three wins out of five?
Raptors Outlook
Record: 28-19 | 4th in Eastern Conference
Offensive Rating: 114.2 (17th) | Defensive Rating: 112.1 (4th) | Net Rating: +2.1 (12th)
Raptors previous results
@ Trail Blazers W 110-98
@ Kings W 122-109
@ Warriors W 145-127
@ Lakers L 110-93
vs Clippers L 121-117
The Raptors had finally gotten out of the fourth seed, as they were stuck there for quite some time, and were in elite territory for the Eastern Conference, but New York’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers last night pushed Toronto back down to the fourth seed, where the Raptors have gotten comfortable holding down their familiar seed. They’re not too far behind the Celtics aswell, one game behind Boston for the second seed, even though they are both tied on 28 wins, but Boston has 2 fewer losses. The game in Portland was a great team effort as Toronto held Portland under 100 points and had seven out of the ten team members who played go for 10+ points. The Thunder have been kind of shaky lately, so we’ll see if they can bring the defensive intensity and balanced team effort again to put together a big statement win for the rest of the league and viewers.
Thunder Outlook
Record: 37-9 | 1st in Western Conference
Offensive Rating: 118.4 (5th) | Defensive Rating: 105.5 (1st) | Net Rating: 12.9 (1st)
Thunder’s previous results
vs Pacers L 117-114
@ Bucks W 122-102
@ Cavaliers W 136-104
@ Heat L 122-120
@ Rockets W 111-91
Like I said in the ending of the Raptors paragraph, the Oklahoma City Thunder came out of the gate swinging, and there were discussions of whether they could match the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors’ near-unbreakable record of 73 wins to 9 losses. Since then, they’ve dropped way too many games for that dream to come true, and after a successful playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s and more specifically the triple crown winner (Scoring title, MVP, Finals MVP) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s (FTA) slander seems to be at an all-time high. Despite all that, the Thunder have done enough so far to solidify themselves comfortably as the best record league-wide, sitting at a record of 37-9. They also hold a league record of best home record with 20 wins to 3 losses at the Paycom Center, and a Raptors upset here would really put Toronto on the map and start gaining some attention if they were to pull off a miracle tonight.
Game Info
Tip-Off: 7:00 p.m. ET
Television: TSN
Radio: Sportsnet 590
Venue: Paycom Center
Starting Lineups (Projected)
Oklahoma City Thunder
PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
SG: Cason Wallace
SF: Isaiah Joe
PF: Luguentz Dort
C: Chet Holmgren
Toronto Raptors
PG: Jamal Shead
SG: RJ Barrett
SF: Brandon Ingram
PF: Scottie Barnes
C: Sandro Mamukelashvili
Injury Report
Toronto Raptors
Jakob Poeltl (Lower Back Strain) – Out
Immanuel Quickley (Right Ankle Soreness) – Questionable
Chucky Hepburn (G-League Assignment) – Out
Collin Murray-Boyles (Left Thumb Contusion) – Questionable
Ja’Kobe Walter (Right Hip Pointer) – Questionable
Oklahoma City Thunder
Alex Caruso (Right Adductor Strain) – Out
Isaiah Hartenstein (Right Soleus Strain) – Out
Ajay Mitchell (Abdominal Strain) – Out
Thomas Sorber (Right ACL) – Out
Nikola Topic (Surgical Recovery) – Out
Aaron Wiggins (Right Hip Impingement) – Questionable
Jalen Williams (Right Hamstring Strain) – Out
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