Toronto Raptors vs Oklahoma City Thunder Final: 123-103 — Raptors start hot but can’t keep up with SGA

The Raptors have now lost nine games in a row, their longest losing streak in a decade.

It was the first night of a back to back for the Toronto Raptors, and it was… not really about them. Mostly because of who they were playing against — the Oklahoma City Thunder. That meant two Canadians were in town, Lu Dort and of course, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

SGA’s day started earlier in the day when he accepted his award for being the 2023 Canadian Athlete of the Year.

Of course, this game did not come without a lengthy injury list on Toronto’s side. With Gary Trent Jr. a late scratch for the team, they were without all of their regular starting five players. In total, the Raptors were missing seven of their players tonight.

Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Chris Boucher and DJ Carton all joined Trent Jr. on the injury list.

They came into the game 17.5 point underdogs, which is a franchise record at home.

The Raptors opted to start Bruce Brown, Javon Freeman-Liberty, Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji and Kelly Olynyk.

Surprisingly (?) this lineup did well against OKC to start, they were up 26-16 at one point in the first quarter. They were still up at the end of the first, 35-28 over OKC.

Gradey Dick also broke his own single-quarter scoring record, getting to 13 points before the quarter was over. His previous single-quarter-high was 11 points.

The Thunder picked up their slack in the second quarter, catching up to the Raptors and then some. Chet Holmgren led the team into double digit scoring pretty soon into the quarter.

Garrett Temple finally got onto the court, and quickly sunk a three-point shot (#PlayTempleMore). It was Kelly Olynyk that led the team in scoring through the first half though, with 14 points, two rebounds, two assists. Gradey had 13, and on the other side, both SGA and Holmgren had 12 a piece.

OKC held their lead through the second quarter as well, leading 62-56 at half.

The third quarter just saw OKC run with it. Chet Holmgren continued to thrive, the rookie leading the Thunder in points through most of the third quarter. He would definitely have a good chance at winning rookie of the year if Victor Wembanyama wasn’t in the picture.

SGA would finish off the third leading his team in points, with 19 going into the final 12 minutes of action.

The Raptors brought it within ten during the fourth quarter. SGA continued to put on a show for his hometown crowd, playing late into the game despite his team’s lead. It was in the last few minutes that he finally took a seat for the night.

In the end, he led the Thunder with 23 points, eight assists, seven rebounds.

With his presence, the Thunder were able to hold off the depleted Raptors team and avoid them coming within a chance to make it a close game.

On the Raptors side, Gradey Dick led the team with 21 points, just shy of his career-high of 22 points in a single game. He added five points, one assist to his stat line, and shot 4-7 from three. He also happened to yet again be the longest tenured Raptor on the floor despite only being drafted last June.

Toronto ended up losing 123-103 to OKC, unable to overcome their 17.5 point spread. They’ve now lost nine games in a row, and will head to Washington to play tomorrow night in the second night of a back to back.

The Raptors also now have 12 games left in the regular season.