Toronto Raptors vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Preview, TV Schedule, Injuries, and More

Lots of Canadian talent on display tonight when the Toronto Raptors host the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Every time a Canada Basketball standout faces the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena, the team takes a moment to celebrate them. There will be two of those tonight with Oklahoma City in town, and one may even garner some MVP chants.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton, Ontario and Lu Dort of Montreal, Quebec are both standout players for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Dort, an undrafted wing out of Arizona State, is known as one of the best defenders in the NBA. In his fifth season, the 6’3” wing plays much higher than his listed height and has helped the Thunder to the fifth best defence in the league at this point in the season. On the other side of the ball, his role has diminished with the emergence of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren, while his efficiency has only increased as he currently shoots threes at a 41% clip.

His Canadian counterpart, famously known as SGA, has emerged as one of the NBA’s best players and the potential MVP for this season. In his sixth season, Shai has been considered for Most Improved Player voting on three occasions, finishing as the runner up for the award last year while also garnering the fifth most votes for NBA MVP. SGA’s has sustained his incredible leap from last season, still averaging 31 points and this year leading the league in steals with 2.1 per game.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the head of the snake of one of the league’s best, and youngest, teams. The Thunder currently sit atop the Western Conference as they battle with the Denver Nuggets for the number one seed.

Their success all season, combined with being 7-3 in their last 10 games, led to the Thunder being 15 point favourites tonight, despite being the road team.

As pointed out by Blake Murphy of The Raptors Show, it’s the biggest underdog Toronto has ever been at home. Not only is OKC one of the top teams in the league, but the Raptors are are also riddled with injuries.

Six Raptors missed their last matchup against Sacramento, all will remain out again tonight, and Gary Trent Jr. has now found his way onto the injury report as questionable. That game against the Kings wasn’t a pretty one, as another western contender easily handled the remainder of the Raptors’ roster.

Already on an eight game losing streak, things are looking bleak for Toronto until they’re able to start getting some of their starters back into the lineup. They’re nowhere near the franchise’s longest ever losing streak, which is 17 games back in 1998, but their most recent stretch like this came in that forgettable Tampa season with 9 in a row.

The elevated roles across the board will be good for the young players’ development, as even if it doesn’t lead to immediate success, getting those added touches they wouldn’t have with the starters available will prove impactful down the line.

The hope for Raptors fans is just that Gradey, Ochai and the other young Raptors continue to showcase their development and that the team plays a hard exciting game. It’s also just fun to watch Shai hoop, too.

How to Watch:

Sportsnet at 7pm ET

Likely Lineups:

Toronto: Bruce Brown, Gary Trent Jr., Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Kelly Olynyk

Oklahoma City: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren

Injuries:

Toronto: Scottie Barnes (out — hand), RJ Barrett (out — personal), Chris Boucher (out — knee), DJ Carton (out — ankle), Jakob Poeltl (out — hand), Immanuel Quickley (out — personal), Gary Trent Jr. (questionable — back)

Oklahoma City: Ousmane Dieng (out — G-League assignment)