Raptors win war of attrition, finish 4-1 on West Coast trip

As Snow Stormageddon hit, Raptors fans were treated to a movie. A movie about a war of attrition. 

The OKC Thunder were up five points at the start of clutch time. IQ’s back-to-back triples put the Raptors up four with 1:16 left. That was two of his incredible six-for-10 makes from downtown.

Then, potential Defensive Player of the Year Scottie Barnes stepped up. He blocked the lanky Chet Holgrem on a step-back jumper, and then grabbed Jamal Shead’s second missed free throw, protecting the Raptors’ two-point lead. That forced OKC to foul IQ, and he hit both free throws to ice the game. Captain clutch.

Kenrich Willaims tried to answer in clutch time with three 3-point attempts. He couldn’t stretch a three-point lead into six by missing a wide open triple. With 3:21 left, he missed a triple contested by Mamu. He got IQ to bite on a pump fake, but air balled the 3, inadvertently passing the ball into Holmgren’s hands for an easy two. 

OKC missing open 3s were a consistent theme throughout the game. Their bench shot a measly 6-26 (23%) from downtown, and aside from Lu Dort, who shot 4-8, Jaylin Williams was the only starter to make a 3. 

But the Raptors ultimately made OKC pay in a game with 17 lead changes, neither team getting to double-digit leads (the biggest lead was seven for both).

When the Raptors were down six at the end of the first quarter, RJ Barett splashed the corner 3, stabilizing the game, which he did throughout the night (game total: 14 points).

To start the second, Gradey Dick hit a corner 3 after slicing to the basket earlier, and Barnes adjusted mid-air to block Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a feat the former displayed against Portland. It was a preview of what was to come later in the game. 

Brandon Ingram, who had six second-quarter points, rivaled SGA’s mid-range dominance (Shai had a loud 24 points on eight-for-11 shooting last night). BI spun off Dort and scored while suspended in the crisp Oklahoma air. He hopped into the lane like prime Derrick Rose and took advantage of his length. He scored a fade-away over two Thunder players.

Ja’Kobe Walter was impressive this quarter, too. He mugged Chet in the open court, fuelling a beautiful transition pass by BI to Mamu. He later dove on the floor when Dort lost control of the ball. Offensively, Walter found Mamu as he made a hard-cut to the basket and assisted Scottie after nearly falling out of bounds.

IQ’s step-back 3 at the end of the first half pushed the one-point lead to four. 

Both teams had 14 free throws in the first half, and OKC would draw 13 of them in the third quarter alone. The Raptors faced another problem – after only turning the ball over three times in the first half, they had six in the third.

Most notably, SGA played the entirety of the quarter and went on a mid-range scoring tear. He shot a perfect 5-5 from the field and finished with 12 points. His finger roll put OKC up four after Chet missed a lay-up two offensive possessions earlier. OKC missing shots like this and open 3s really helped the Raptors throughout the game. 

RJ’s triple reduced the lead to one. Just as he had done in the first quarter, he made plays when it mattered. After halftime, he grabbed an offensive offensive board over SGA, and took the ball strong with his left, even with Holgrem and Jay Will guarding him. Boy, it’s so nice to have him back – the Raptors are now 18-7 when he plays. 

In a high-stakes game, Jamal Shead rose to the occasion, too. After cutting inside, Shead whipped a beautiful behind-the-back bounce pass to Walter for a wide-open corner 3 look. Cash. At the end of a 2-for-1 play, Shead rejected Ochai Agbaji’s screen, but then realized there was nowhere to go. So, he retreated and splashed the triple after going 0-4 from downtown in the first half. 

From the start of the game, Shead showed no fear. He had a runner on SGA using Mamu’s screen and got a deflection on Dort while applying full-court pressure. He made his presence felt. In clutch time, he had a crossover, paint touch and nice dish to Scottie. Then, he rinsed and repeated, but the kickout went to IQ on the perimeter. 

The fourth quarter started with Agbaji’s alley-oop dunk and hard cut to the basket. IQ’s triple gave the Raptors a one-point lead. Then, Dick forced Isaiah Joe to modify his release point and forced a miss 3.

Before clutch time, the Raptors damage controlled. They didn’t let mistakes compound. OKC had great ball movement, scored, and the Raptors turned the ball over with an offensive foul. BI got back on the court. He missed a middy and IQ missed a triple. Kenrich Willaims attacked Mamu, but what initially seemed like an out of bounds play turned into a shooting foul. Williams made both free throws and it was a four-point swing. 

Kenrich scored again to build a six-point lead, but BI answered defensively with a solid closeout on Jay Will, blocked his lay-up, and regained possession. That turned into Mamu making one of two free throws. Five-point game with 6:24 left. The Basketball Gods also made Jay Will miss an open 3 and Aaron Wiggins’ relocation corner 3 – a trend that Kenrich would continue in clutch time. 

The Raptors capitalized. What a way to cap off a 4-1 West Coast trip.

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