Three lessons the OKC Thunder can utilize in Orlando from their December 29th one point battle versus the Raptors.
Throughout the hiatus, Fox Sports Oklahoma has replayed the OKC Thunder top games of the season. Outside of the match in Boston, the win in Toronto on December 29th was the next most impressive win this season.
Although there hasn’t been an opportunity to build any sort of long-standing rivalry or animosity between the clubs every season the two contests played are always exciting. Now that two Canadians play on the OKC Thunder, the tickets (when fans eventually are able to return) which were always hard to get will be even more difficult to obtain.
During the match, the Raptors played a tribute video to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort with the latter getting run in this match. The crowd erupted for them and got loud later in the match when the Raptors also had two Canadians on the court (Chris Boucher, Oshae Brissett) marking the first time four Canucks were on the hardwood at one time in a Raptors match at home.
Also of note, the Raptors head coach Nick Nurse is also the National Team coach for Canada. This made for plenty of sound bites before and after the game regarding his excitement to coach SGA eventually on the National Team.
The match came down to the clutch as it often did this season for the Thunder and while some in Toronto felt Chris Paul either traveled, carried the ball, or both it was one of the most exciting finishes in the NBA this season.
Three lessons OKC Thunder learned from battle in the 6ix
Canadian puts on show:
Although players often get up for matches in their home cities the pressure for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing in Toronto was two-fold. This because Toronto is just outside the city where SGA grew up but also the only Canadian team.
Luguentz Dort also got more run in this match with Schroder out.
Over the years Steve Nash, Tristan Thompson, Jamal Murray, Andrew Wiggins, and many more have played at the Scotiabank Arena. Each is welcomed and cheered but none have ever produced an effort like Gilgeous-Alexander did in this match in which he tied his career-high of 32 points. In addition. SGA snared three steals, grabbed seven rebounds and dished two assists.
Living in Toronto, I can tell you the Raptors announcers raved about SGA. Much of the broadcast was spent discussing his talents and reveling over his change of pace moves. The TV team marveled over the growth he’d made in a single season.
While the closing of the game was rife with tension there wasn’t a fan who left the building unhappy. For days in the 6ix, I heard from local fans who bleed Raptors red but couldn’t stop raving about Shai’s performance.
What this should pinpoint about the Thunder cornerstone is he loves the big games when the pressure is greatest. Much like SGA did in the postseason against the Warriors he delivered on the road and that bodes well for the Thunder when the playoffs begin.
Winning in adversity:
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It wasn’t often this season the Thunder faced numerous core players out at one time but Dennis Schroder (ankle), Danilo Gallinari (ankle), and Hamidou Diallo (arm) were all out for OKC.
Toronto, on the other hand, became accustomed to missing core players. Only the Warriors, Wizards, Pistons and Blazers posted more games lost due to injury. Nurse used 17 different starting lineup iterations and OG Anunoby was the only player in the Raptors top eight to avoid missing between 11 and 29 games.
For this match, Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol, Norman Powell, and Matt Thomas were out and Toronto was playing on the second game of a back-to-back set.
Rookie shines:
In one of Darius Bazley‘s best outings of the season, he scored with ease. When Billy Donovan mentioned the team spent ample time over the hiatus reviewing film, I thought back to this match. Hopefully, a coach went through this game with Bazley to point out how freely he released his shot, connecting on four 3-pointers.
Although the rookie had some defensive issues, this match offered a glimpse of the rook’s potential and hopefully some added confidence Bazley can use in the Disney bubble.
For those interested in further insight on the victory check out our post-game grades and statheads can view the box score at this link courtesy of ESPN.