The Toronto Raptors travel to Oklahoma City to take on Russell Westbrook and the Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena, on Wednesday.
The Raptors (4-2) are coming off a tough home-loss to the Kings on Sunday. They were missing center Jonas Valanciunas (sore knee) and in turn got beat up down low by DeMarcus Cousins. The Raptors’ rookies Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl have been doing a good job filling in for Jared Sullinger, who has yet to appear in the regular season, and even did a good job covering for Valanciunas, who remains day-to-day. DeMar DeRozan has been on a tear to begin the season, scoring 30 points in the first five games, but came up with “only” 23 points versus the Kings. The Raptors enter Oklahoma City for the first game of a two-game road trip.
The Thunder (6-1) recovered from the beat-down that Golden State handed them, with 97-85 win over the Heat on Monday. The post-Durant Thunder are doing a great job moving the ball and playing at a fast pace, headed by the brute force of Russell Westbrook. Westbrook is averaging 30.4 points, 9.9 assists and 8.4 rebounds per game, however was quiet in their last win, with only 14 points, 11 assists and five rebounds. It was a very good sign for the Thunder to pull-off the win, without a huge night offensively from Westbrook. Enes Kanter stepped up for 24 points, in 21 minutes off the bench, while rookie Domantas Sabonis added 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Thunder will need to keep up the defense, allowing 97 points per game, in order to continue their success.
