Grades: OKC Thunder lose OT thriller to Raptors on Collison jersey night

Player Grades

The only consistent OKC Thunder player on this night was Russell Westbrook. There were lapses defensively, but when you’re carrying the offense and trying to get your teammates rolling too, that can be forgiven.

He finished the night with 42 points, 6 assists, and 11 rebounds.  The shooting was back on track as well as he shot 50 percent from deep (5 of 10) and 16 of 29 from the field for 55 percent. The one negative was his eight turnovers.

TFerg finished with eight points, one rebound, and one steal. Unfortunately, Ferguson (and George) had a real test tonight. If they weren’t covering Kawhi Leonard, they were having to stop Danny Green from hitting from the perimeter. Just a tough matchup either way.

Paul George sure seems to be hampered by that shoulder as he struggled for good portions of the night. Granted his defensive assignment was scary. PG was either on Kawhi Leonard who collected the quietest 22 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two steals I can ever recall.

For his part, PG had 19 points, five rebounds, six assists, and a steal. The other issue will be if Kyle Lowry returns on Friday it will make Westbrook’s life more difficult (although Fred VanVleet did a serviceable job in Lowry’s absence playing alongside Gasol and Lin for just his third and second time respectively).

At this stage I think a tough call needs to be made — should the team rest Paul George to allow him to re-discover his form? Or should he play through it? With so many tough games on tap perhaps the best thing the Thunder could do for George is to give him a week of rest.

Jerami Grant joined Russell Westbrook in his production notching nine points and 14 rebounds. Where he had a tough time (much like most of his counterparts) was on the defensive side of the ball. Then again – now you are witnessing why I’ve been delirious over Pascal Siakam for the past two seasons.

Generally, the power forwards who give Siakam trouble are Thaddeus Young and Blake Griffin so I thought the potential was there for Grant to at least slow Siakam. Then again – this Raptors team is loaded and just when one player sits for rest another enters like OG Anunoby or Serge Ibaka to contend with.

A good old fashioned big man versus big man matchup witnessed Adams struggling a bit. His final results of four points, seven offensive rebounds, two assists, and a steal wouldn’t normally bother me if he was doing all the other little things.

In fact, the Raptors showcased how Adams could be better utilized to move the ball in a manner similar to how they use Marc Gasol. Like George, I’m still concerned that Adams is playing through injury.