Quick Reaction: Raptors 117, Thunder 98

Really like winning games.

Raptors

117

Final
Box Score

Thunder

A+

P. Siakam40 MIN, 27 PTS, 16 REB, 5 AST, 1 STL, 13-17 FG, 1-3 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 3 TO, +11 +/-

Put significant pressure on the OKC paint from the start and completely buckled their defense. Bazley, Williams, doubles – whatever, there wasn’t a way to stop him. Discovered a statistic that said he operates with the 6th worst spacing in the league (among stars, although I didn’t see how they qualified ‘star’) and that puts a little bit of data into the: “how the hell does he make it work?” question. The answer? By being incredible at basketball. I’ve done a lot of writing about Siakam – story based, analysis based – and there’s just very little to say other than “wow”.

B+

O. Anunoby37 MIN, 15 PTS, 10 REB, 2 AST, 0 STL, 6-12 FG, 3-7 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 4 TO, +14 +/-

Opened the game like many others, with a mismatch iso on a player he can overpower, and it was a bucket. Helped corral a lot of the open floor boards that were spilling out everywhere because of the voluminous 3-point shots from the Thunder, and found the right balance of carrrying it/giving it up. He was so good at mirroring Fred, Pascal, and Scottie as a shooter and I really appreciate that aspect of his game. He’s providing such a dependable floor.

A-

S. Barnes31 MIN, 17 PTS, 2 REB, 4 AST, 0 STL, 5-9 FG, 1-1 3FG, 6-6 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +22 +/-

I love the funky drives, and the Thunder didn’t. They were very perplexed with how to deal with him. He’s sprinting out in transition (off-ball) better than he has all season and it’s creating extra touches for himself. His possessions have been a little bit of a casualty as Siakam has operated as a world ending heliocentric force, and he’s supplemented his own offense by working off of him more diligently.

F. VanVleet36 MIN, 21 PTS, 0 REB, 6 AST, 2 STL, 7-17 FG, 6-14 3FG, 1-1 FT, 0 BLK, 3 TO, +17 +/-

Hey, LeeZ I’m not sure if you caught the counter out of Horns Flex we talked about, but they went to it today. It didn’t turn into anything, but it was there. The 3-point shot is such an unbelievable weapon. Dangerous on the pull, even moreso running alongside Siakam. Love how well he slides into lower usage roles when Siakam is cooking, then quickly ratchets things up when it’s his time again.

B+

G. Trent Jr.34 MIN, 16 PTS, 1 REB, 2 AST, 5 STL, 5-12 FG, 2-5 3FG, 4-4 FT, 0 BLK, 1 TO, +20 +/-

Best off-ball defensive game in some time. Really popped in the passing lanes. The shooting wasn’t quite as sharp as some other games, but I thought he struck a really great balance alongside other teammates who were particularly dominant.

B+

C. Boucher19 MIN, 9 PTS, 5 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 3-7 FG, 0-1 3FG, 3-3 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, +7 +/-

Plugging in. Filling lanes. Grabbing boards. Contesting shots. His role is very simplified and he’s meeting it every single game. The groove that the teams been in looks really good on him.

P. Achiuwa19 MIN, 4 PTS, 7 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 2-7 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, +5 +/-

Some really fun free-wheeling in this game, even if it was largely unsuccessful. And that’s what this was for him tonight – an exercise in ball handling freedom. Middling returns, top tier entertainment.

Inc

Y. Watanabe2 MIN, 4 PTS, 0 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 2-2 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 0 TO, 0 +/-

Looked really explosive for a bit! Free throw line floaters are rare, and he hit one!

Inc

K. Birch6 MIN, 0 PTS, 1 REB, 1 AST, 0 STL, 0-0 FG, 0-0 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 BLK, 1 TO, -3 +/-

Chase down block!

B-

D. Banton12 MIN, 2 PTS, 2 REB, 0 AST, 0 STL, 1-2 FG, 0-1 3FG, 0-0 FT, 0 BLK, 2 TO, +2 +/-

Pushed as hard as possible, as often as he could, but had to pull the ball back most of the time. The offensive opportunity isn’t there that much, but he’s still trying to mine transition for it. I respect the hustle.