RealGM

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HIGHLIGHTS

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TORONTO RAPTORS at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
7PM CST |
Raptors: 23-9 | #2 in East
| 24.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 4.9 APG
ROSTER:

Thunder: 19-15 | #5 in West
| 23.9 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 9.9 APG
ROSTER:

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SUMMARY
Thunder Last 3

Thunder Upcoming 3

INJURY REPORT

PLAYER OF THE GAME

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| NBA.com | | Thunder.com | | ESPN.com/NBA

They will be another tough test. PPatt should play more.
Five of Russ, Robes, George, Patt and Adams can be like massive wall. Pure elite.

I guess this might be a real test for our second unit, Toronto has one of the best in the league.

Toronto & Portland are the prime examples of teams that ride on the strength of their prolific backcourts and we have problem against them every season. It's on Presti that he has not been able to find a proper back up PG to give Russ a breather against those kinds of energizer bunnies. Is it really that hard to find a TJ McConnell or a Shaun Livingston just to take the load off a bit?

Lost to Dallas, Toronto on a back-to-back.

Trap game.

oken wrote:Toronto & Portland are the prime examples of teams that ride on the strength of their prolific backcourts and we have problem against them every season. It's on Presti that he has not been able to find a proper back up PG to give Russ a breather against those kinds of energizer bunnies. Is it really that hard to find a TJ McConnell or a Shaun Livingston just to take the load off a bit?

Raymond Felton has been super solid imo

RunOKC wrote:

oken wrote:Toronto & Portland are the prime examples of teams that ride on the strength of their prolific backcourts and we have problem against them every season. It's on Presti that he has not been able to find a proper back up PG to give Russ a breather against those kinds of energizer bunnies. Is it really that hard to find a TJ McConnell or a Shaun Livingston just to take the load off a bit?

Raymond Felton has been super solid imo

Yep. The only thing that is clearly working for our second line up is Raymond Felton. He's playing great and sharing the ball very well. Don't understand the issue here

Maybe we can swap bebe and jerami and send grant back on their team plane.

Dadouv47 wrote:

RunOKC wrote:

oken wrote:Toronto & Portland are the prime examples of teams that ride on the strength of their prolific backcourts and we have problem against them every season. It's on Presti that he has not been able to find a proper back up PG to give Russ a breather against those kinds of energizer bunnies. Is it really that hard to find a TJ McConnell or a Shaun Livingston just to take the load off a bit?

Raymond Felton has been super solid imo

Yep. The only thing that is clearly working for our second line up is Raymond Felton. He's playing great and sharing the ball very well. Don't understand the issue here

Sorry i think i misstated my intent a bit. I mean we need an energetic second unit PG/SG to throw in there to harass the other teams backcourt. Felton is fine but he was already huffing and puffing after the reverse layup in the start of 2nd qtr (his own 6th minute mark) in HOU game. For example there is Ron Baker in NYK who is definitely not an NBA caliber player(and does not deserve his contract at all) but would possibly do the trick for us to just stick to the other team's guards and harass them while Russ is out. A calmer but physically potent vet like Livingston or maybe a hidden gem like McConnell (undrafted) would be perfect but maybe it is too much to ask for.

oken wrote:

Dadouv47 wrote:

RunOKC wrote:Raymond Felton has been super solid imo

Yep. The only thing that is clearly working for our second line up is Raymond Felton. He's playing great and sharing the ball very well. Don't understand the issue here

Sorry i think i misstated my intent a bit. I mean we need an energetic second unit PG/SG to throw in there to harass the other teams backcourt. Felton is fine but he was already huffing and puffing after the reverse layup in the start of 2nd qtr (his own 6th minute mark) in HOU game. For example there is Ron Baker in NYK who is definitely not an NBA caliber player(and does not deserve his contract at all) but would possibly do the trick for us to just stick to the other team's guards and harass them while Russ is out. A calmer but physically potent vet like Livingston or maybe a hidden gem like McConnell (undrafted) would be perfect but maybe it is too much to ask for.

Avery Bradley could be that guy for us. Pistons are going to struggle with RJax out anyways so they might look to move him at the deadline

thekaoswithin wrote:

oken wrote:

Dadouv47 wrote:
Yep. The only thing that is clearly working for our second line up is Raymond Felton. He's playing great and sharing the ball very well. Don't understand the issue here

Sorry i think i misstated my intent a bit. I mean we need an energetic second unit PG/SG to throw in there to harass the other teams backcourt. Felton is fine but he was already huffing and puffing after the reverse layup in the start of 2nd qtr (his own 6th minute mark) in HOU game. For example there is Ron Baker in NYK who is definitely not an NBA caliber player(and does not deserve his contract at all) but would possibly do the trick for us to just stick to the other team's guards and harass them while Russ is out. A calmer but physically potent vet like Livingston or maybe a hidden gem like McConnell (undrafted) would be perfect but maybe it is too much to ask for.

Avery Bradley could be that guy for us. Pistons are going to struggle with RJax out anyways so they might look to move him at the deadline

They will pay him I think. They won't blow that team up.

Pillendreher wrote:

thekaoswithin wrote:

oken wrote:Sorry i think i misstated my intent a bit. I mean we need an energetic second unit PG/SG to throw in there to harass the other teams backcourt. Felton is fine but he was already huffing and puffing after the reverse layup in the start of 2nd qtr (his own 6th minute mark) in HOU game. For example there is Ron Baker in NYK who is definitely not an NBA caliber player(and does not deserve his contract at all) but would possibly do the trick for us to just stick to the other team's guards and harass them while Russ is out. A calmer but physically potent vet like Livingston or maybe a hidden gem like McConnell (undrafted) would be perfect but maybe it is too much to ask for.

Avery Bradley could be that guy for us. Pistons are going to struggle with RJax out anyways so they might look to move him at the deadline

They will pay him I think. They won't blow that team up.

I think there are real questions. If they slide then van gundy may lose at least one job.

This feels like a trap game. Hoping we have turned the corner, but still not sure. I do think we match up well.

I wouldn’t be too dissapointed with a competitive loss.

Thundershock88 wrote:This feels like a trap game. Hoping we have turned the corner, but still not sure. I do think we match up well.

Our starting 5 runs circles around them. I'm mostly concerned about the bench and Donovan.

I still think we are way better than the Raptors but I'm scared that our team starts to get overconfident after our recent successes.

Frustrating sequence there. We get up 16-4, play great defense two more possessions in a row, but the Raptors drain two 3s. The first Lowry catches and jabs steps a few times before firing and hitting over Roberson, and the second was Serge trailing the play and catching and firing (slightly off-balance) and draining a three over Adams. Both are shots I can live with every time they're taken, but int his case the Raptors quickly erase a poor start by hitting two very difficult threes.

We were up 16-4 at one point this quarter. We may very well be trailing by the end of the quarter.

Not good.