Bad habits punctuate OKC Thunder loss to Raptors: 3 key takeaways
Frontcourt hurt by the loss of Steven Adams:
At 10:35 of the second quarter, Steven Adams subbed out having come down a bit wonky on his layup. It resulted in a knee contusion and he was done for the night.
Already missing the services of Nerlens Noel the resulting effect was Billy Donovan had to roll with reserves Mike Muscala and Darius Bazley as well as G-League call up Justin Patton who had a remarkable effort in the game prior of the OKC Blue.
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Each of the trio offered some assistance with the two youngsters showing some true panache but against the likes of Gasol, Ibaka, and Siakam it was a tough trio to contend with.
Hopefully, Adams will be able to play versus the Heat on Friday since Bam Adebayo has raised his level of play this season and expecting Muscala or Patton to offset Bam’s abilities would be a big ask.
Based on what we witnessed on Wednesday and the entirety of the season let’s hope if he’s forced Billy D will elect to use Patton who offers much better defensive acumen than Muscala.