Quick Reaction: Raptors 127, Thunder 135

Gary continues to impress; he’s doing exactly what we need him to. Hit your shots consistently and play the high level of defence we know you can. Love to see him being aggressive and shooting threes with no hesitation. He hit the big triples when the Raptors needed him and continued to play with energy, so can’t get on GTJ for this one.

Scottie had a solid first half, hitting two threes and a jump hook in the post. He was also one of the main reasons why the Raptors’ defence was incredible in that first half. Playing the passing lanes, smothering the shooters, and rotating when he needed to. He also played some great defence on SGA, making it difficult to get his rhythm going. With that being said, Scottie completely vanished from the fourth quarter and on. I don’t know why wasn’t being aggressive, taking over or even trying to get something going. That ending to the first overtime was completely unacceptable, you have to drive there. Throwing a grenade into GTJ’s hands was just not the answer. There might be something else going on, but hopefully, he can bounce back next game.

Poeltl was playing aggressively very early in the first quarter, with an up-and-under layup on Chet then taking it straight at the paint for the foul. Great stuff to see from the big man. His defence was also fantastic especially on guys like Chet, not giving him a chance to get into a rhythm, cutting off OKC from being able to penetrate the paint. He made all the difference tonight for the Raptors, whenever subbed out OKC immediately capitalized. Overall it’s great to see Jak playing with such high energy and making a difference on this team.

What a first half from Star-J, showing us why he’s needed in this offence. He was taking it to the rim, hitting his threes, and when he wasn’t scoring making the right play for others. He continued this level of play straight into the second half, working in tangent with Scottie to help keep the Thunder at bay in the third. However, in the fourth, I don’t know if Barett was gassed or what exactly was the reason, but he was making some bad choices on defence, not rotating or switching on picks, allowing OKC to get some open threes. RJ did make up for this by going into the overtime periods, playing with high energy and not giving up. Throwing down a poster in double OT, RJ wanted this win.

Quickley had a slow first three quarters, but even though he wasn’t scoring he still managed to help the team by playing solid defence and throwing out 8 dimes. IQ came up huge in the fourth for the team, getting his offence going. He was one of the main reasons OKC didn’t run away with it in the fourth. Quickley came to play in overtime, being aggressive and playing his game like usual. Overall solid game.

Dennis started with some questionable shots, but once he started to push the tempo gave the team some quality buckets in the first half. Dennis also wasn’t afraid to go straight at OKC’s interior defenders, drawing fouls and hitting his free throws. However, late into the fourth Dennis had some costly misplays on defence, letting his man get open for the three and forgetting to close out. He did score in overtime, but if those miscalculations on defence didn’t happen, it makes you wonder.

Thad Young once again impressed with a high level of play off the bench. In just the first nine minutes he played he came out put out a stat line of 4-4-4. He did slow down after that but still played solid defence when Jak had to rest.

Bruce was out there getting cardio, don’t know if this was just an off-game for him but 18 minutes and two points isn’t acceptable.

It’s great to see how Gradey’s been developing throughout this season. Hit his first mid-range and had a nice reverse lay in the first quarter. He had a great transition sequence where he drew the foul on a layup, and I could easily see him putting on more strength to get that layup converted. Loving how he’s developing so far.

Darko had some great first-half defences running the zone and as soon as the OKC was starting to hit threes in the second half called two quick time-outs. My main gripe with him in this game is that when Bruce Brown started to disappear, he should’ve subbed in Nwora. Other than that I can’t blame him for how that first overtime ended, he shouldn’t have to tell the star player to be aggressive and drive to the basket.