Raptors out-Thunder the Thunder, see their best performance in years
Just how good can these Toronto Raptors become? On a frigid Sunday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a winter storm constricting much of North America, the Raptors channeled that energy in their icy grip on the Thunder’s offence. Toronto played a near-perfect game and as a result topped the league’s best.
It’s hard to call a 54-50 half perfect for the Raptors, but that’s more or less what the first half was. Toronto’s defensive gameplan saw immaculate commitment from its players. The plan was to swarm the middle, help early and often, and only recover to some shooters, not all. Players like Lu Dort, Jaylin Williams, Cason Wallace, and Kenrich Williams saw half-hearted closeouts if at all. Some of those resulted in burns — Dort hit four triples in the first half — but the tactic saw the four combine to shoot 4-of-12 in total in the first half. (They shot even worse as a quartet in the second half.) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander saw a plethora of help and even early double teams on occasion, before he even put the ball on the floor, and Toronto’s backline defence forced plenty of turnovers or deflections reading his passes out of those traps.
Jamal Shead, Ja’Kobe Walter, and Ochai Agbaji survived against Gilgeous-Alexander on the defensive end. They generally stayed in front, pushed him into help, and didn’t foul. Walter especially thrived defensively, forcing turnovers and deflections, diving on loose balls, and finding himself an immediate lynchpin for the defensive success of his lineups in his return from a hip pointer. He earned the close as a result of his defence, and he rewarded Darko Rajakovic with perfect defence on Gilgeous-Alexander down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Toronto ran its offence without fear of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s snarling panther defenders. The Raptors committed two first-half turnovers (!) against a Thunder squad that forces 8.9 opposing turnovers in first halves, which leads the league. The Thunder committed seven. And Toronto scored quite well in transition, especially Sandro Mamukelashvili. His jumper wasn’t available, so he used his legs to outrace the Thunder’s bigs in transition and even in semi-transition, finding a few layups and plenty of free throws by virtue of well-timed cuts and headlong sprints.
Immanuel Quickley thrived, finding easy jumpers (hitting 3-of-4 from deep in the half), and getting up quick floaters when he found himself inside the arc. RJ Barrett cut so well against the Thunder’s zone that Oklahoma City had to abandon it fairly quickly. Scottie Barnes didn’t score well, but his passing was sublime (as always), and he drew lots of fouls deep in the paint surrounded by swarms of handsy Thunder players. (Even some that weren’t called.) He finished only two assists shy of a triple-double with three blocks and a steal for good measure. Gradey Dick continued his very solid string of games, holding up on defence, cutting well, and even hitting a pair of triples.
Recently, the Thunder haven’t been the unbeatable juggernaut that terrorized the league for the first few months. But they still have been an exceptional team. Though they’ve ‘only’ been 8-4 (now 8-5) since Jan. 1, they’ve still boasted a net rating of plus-9, had a top-five offence and defence, and won the possession game with aplomb. Toronto keeping pace was exceptional. And beating the Thunder at their own game — winning the possession battle, taking care of the ball, controlling the pace — was miraculous. It was a great game plan that was perfectly executed.
There were moments of winning on the margins that made up the hull of Toronto’s weatherworn boat. Walter — a guard — slipped a screen, caught the ball falling out of bounds, and found Barnes in the dunker spot for a layup. Shead threw a seeing-eye pass to a slipping Mamukelashvili that took an angle I haven’t seen a Raptor point guard attempt since one Kyle Lowry. In the third quarter, he cut baseline on an Ingram post-up, caught it, and slung an immediate behind-the-back pass to Walter for an easy corner triple. Barrett beat three Thunder for an offensive rebound and laid it back in. Those are winning moments from a winning team.
That’s what it takes to beat the champs. Not just beat them. Steal their flow. The Raptors were more Thunder than the Thunder. That reflects exceptionally on everyone, from the coach on down to the stars on down to the role players. This is the type of game that dissuades a front office from making sizeable trades.
In the third quarter, the Thunder adapted. Gilgeous-Alexander realized he would need to start forcing some looks rather than making the smart play. And the Thunder started scoring far better. Toronto’s turnover rate crept up as those tight-window passes started hitting Thunder hands rather than easing through the gap.
But the Raptors fought back. Mamukelashvili stayed running, finding Dick in transition for a layup. Shead’s passing remained elite. (Is he the best point-guard passer in Toronto since Lowry? I’m starting to think it’s possible.) Dick’s shooting continued its (admittedly brief) hot streak. Shead’s knack for clutch shooting continued, too, as he hit a buzzer-beating pull-up triple to close the third quarter. The Thunder took the lead, but the Raptors didn’t fold.
Agbaji threw down a transition lob dunk, then cut for a look-away lawnmower bounce pass from Barnes for another dunk. Toronto’s defence remained precise, with everyone chipping in. Quickley helped out at the rim on multiple occasions, using verticality and his surprising length to force misses. He also grabbed 11 rebounds, tying Barnes for the game high. That’s winning basketball.
Toronto’s stars couldn’t seal it. Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t have his best game — credit to Walter more than anyone else — outside of a spurt in the third quarter. But he tossed in some points in the fourth. And Mamukelashvili was Toronto’s closer for much of the fourth quarter. Barnes couldn’t shake loose for any real half-court scoring. He had a fantastic game in virtually every other area, but he finished with 10 points. Ingram fared worse, finishing with 13 points on 18 shots, and he didn’t offer nearly the same punch as a passer or defender. Outside of a pair of free throws for Ingram, neither scored in the fourth until a Barnes dunk created by Shead with 3:30 remaining.
Ordinarily, limited star scoring amidst so many positives would be a quibble. But a quibble usually spells a loss against a team like the Thunder.
Not in this one. The defence — ferocious, toothy, handsy, fierce — was too good. Toronto survived its limited scoring from Barnes and Ingram.
Quickley couldn’t create on the ball late, but when Shead played point guard to jet into the lane and Quickley got to roam as an off-ball shooter, he canned a triple to give Toronto the lead, then another to push it to four. And the defence just kept stopping the Thunder, stomping out their actions, forcing the ball to less dangerous players. Chet Holmgren tried to tie the game with 20 or so seconds left, and Barnes erased his shot. His eight clutch blocks now leads the league.
And so Toronto won its game of the year. In fact, this could be Toronto’s best win since … the 2019-20 season? It’s clear that as long as the Raptors have a modicum of health, they can punch with anyone. Toronto finished with 11 more shots than Oklahoma City. Barnes may not be the world’s best scorer, but he found his way to a superstar performance anyway. He sealed the game with an enormous tap-out offensive rebound on a missed free throw. Toronto’s depth has been immaculate.
Darko Rajakovic is brewing something magnificent in Toronto.
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