OKC Thunder vs Raptors part deux serves up healthier rosters – preview

Projected line-ups

OKC Thunder Starters:

Point Guard: Chris Paul
Shooting Guard: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Small Forward: Terrance Ferguson
Power Forward: Danilo Gallinari
Center:  Steven Adams

OKC Thunder Bench:

Point Guard: Dennis Schroder.
Shooting Guard: Hamidou Diallo, Deonte Burton, Luguentz Dort
Small Forward:
Power Forward: Darius Bazley, Mike Muscala, Kevin Hervey
Center: Justin Patton

Injury notes:

• Nerlens Noel will miss his sixth game with an ankle sprain
• Abdel Nader is out due to an ankle sprain
• Andre Roberson is still rehabbing away from the team for his knee injury

Toronto Raptors Starters

Marc Gasol is expected to return after missing 12 games. Although Nurse could put him back in as a starter it’s also highly likely he’ll come in off the bench because of how well Serge Ibaka has played in Gasol’s absence.

Point Guard:  Kyle Lowry
Shooting Guard: Norman Powell
Small Forward: OG Anunoby
Power Forward: Pascal Siakam
Center: Serge Ibaka

Toronto Raptors Bench:

Point Guard: Terence Davis, Shamorie Ponds (two-way contract)
Shooting Guard: Patrick McCaw, Matt Thomas
Small Forward: Malcolm Miller, Oshae Brissett (two-way contract)
Power Forward: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Stanley Johnson
Center: *Marc Gasol, Chris Boucher

More from Thunderous Intentions

• Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
• Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Injury notes:

•  Fred VanVleet is out with a hamstring injury and no definitive return date.
• Dewan Hernandez has missed 13 games and remains out with no timetable for his return.

Game specifics

The Venue: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Tipoff:  8:00 PM ET  | 7:00 PM CT

TV: FS Oklahoma

Radio: WWLS 98.1 FM OKC

History:

All-time, the teams have played 22 times with the OKC Thunder winning 14 of the matches.

Last season the teams met twice with each winning on the road. The Thunder won the December 29th match in Toronto by a single point (98-97).

The Raptors will undoubtedly be motivated for the win given the three previous losses were by a cumulative four points and in each situation, it appeared the refs either directly or indirectly (no calls) played a role in the outcome. The Thunder can’t worry about that – they just need to match the intensity.

Enjoy the game and make sure to check back after the game for the post game grades, recap, and takeaways.