 | OKC Thunder | 106 | Final Box Score | 112 | TOR Raptors |  |
 B | K. Birch28 MIN, 7 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST, 2 STL, 2-9 FG, 1-1 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 2 TO, 12 +/- Birch is starting to extend his range. He made his second three as a Raptor already, compared to just four in 188 games with Orlando. Struggled to finish inside over the length of the Thunder bigs. Solid defence down the stretch. | |
 A+ | C. Boucher35 MIN, 31 PTS, 11 REB, 2 AST, 1 STL, 10-17 FG, 6-9 3FG, 5-7 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, 15 +/- Almost felt like Boucher and Dort were having a one on one matchup in the first quarter. Boucher dropped 17, including dropping Pokusevski on a jab step. Boucher now has put up double digit rebounds in 4 of the last 7 games. BIG three to break the 102-102 tie, and another one to ice it. Career-high in threes made. He WANTED to win the MTL duel badly. | |
 A- | G. Trent33 MIN, 23 PTS, 5 REB, 1 AST, 4 STL, 9-25 FG, 5-10 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, 16 +/- Trent is the definition of a microwave. Doesn’t matter if he starts 1-7 like tonight. One good look and all of a sudden he’s on fire. This will be said from time to time, but better shot selection will be a part of Trent’s development. Tends to take wild shots early in the game, it’s almost like he begins games testing his limits. Great defence down the stretch, setting another career-high (steals). His only assist of the game was the biggest, handling the Dorture chamber and finding Boucher to ice it. | |
 F | P. Watson22 MIN, 0 PTS, 4 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 0-10 FG, 0-6 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/- Career-high 30 points on Friday, but couldn’t duplicate any of that. Eventually Nurse had to pull the plug early 4th after shooting 0-10. Just write this one off. | |
 A- | M. Flynn30 MIN, 15 PTS, 8 REB, 5 AST, 0 STL, 6-13 FG, 3-5 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, 10 +/- Like two previous Raptor point guards before him, Malachi has a knack for a doing little things you won’t see on the boxscore. Lots of smart decision making, and starts to look for his own shot more as the game progresses. | |
 A | Y. Watanabe29 MIN, 10 PTS, 4 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 3-6 FG, 1-2 3FG, 3-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, -2 +/- Love this extended stretch of great play from Yuta. Does a little bit of everything hounding defenders, aggressive drives, even a little bit of secondary playmaking. Well deserved crunch time minutes. Awesome pass to Boucher to put the Raptors up 5 late. | |
 C | D. Bembry20 MIN, 2 PTS, 4 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-3 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 0 BLK, 4 TO, -5 +/- Bembry ran a lot of point with the second unit. That’s not really ideal – just check the assist to turnover ratio. Somewhat makes up for this with his defensive effort. | |
 A- | F. Gillespie19 MIN, 10 PTS, 2 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 4-4 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -6 +/- Big Freddie got a second 10-day! He’s just active simply put, whether thats on the glass, or even stretching his defensive coverage to the three point line. He should be signed for the rest of the season. | |
 B | S. Johnson13 MIN, 12 PTS, 3 REB, 1 AST, 2 STL, 3-9 FG, 1-5 3FG, 5-5 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, -11 +/- Stanley struggles sometimes with that fine line between being decisive, and pre-determining all his moves regardless of what defence is in front of him. A little bit of the latter sometimes. Much better second half, even knocking down a pullup three. | |
 C- | R. Hood7 MIN, 2 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 BLK, 0 TO, -9 +/- Didn’t really do anything of note. Was kind of just getting cardio in. Didn’t play in the second half. | |
 A+ | Nick Nurse The Bembry-Hood-Stanley-Yuta-Gillespie combo fell behind in the second quarter but did lot better ending the third minus Hood. The DNPCD counter for Aron Baynes is now at five. I don’t think many people mind that. Hard for the Baynes Fan Club to make content though. Good calls on pulling the plugs on Watson. Hood and Bembry, also keeping Yuta in down the stretch. | |
Things We Saw
- Montreal was proudly represented in the first quarter. Lu Dort shot 7-7 with 21 points, Chris Boucher had 17 and Khem Birch added a corner three. Put that all together and that’s 41 of 59 TOTAL points from the 514. Dort is starting to blossom as an offensive player, now averaging 28 points in four April games.
- The last time the Raptors faced a very similar OKC lineup, they were outrebounded 64-35. This has been a lot better since the additions of Birch and Gillespie. Toronto was a +1 on the boards, and have now won the rebounding battle in four straight games.
- The Raptors are on a 3-game win streak for the first time since Feb 21, when they improved to 16-15. I don’t think this is tanking folks. It’s become a three team race between the Raps, the puzzling Bulls, and the equally surging Wizards for the final play-in spot.
