Without Ingram and Poeltl, Raptors no match for Thunder​on February 8, 2025 at 3:46 am

Undersized and missing some key pieces, the visiting Toronto Raptors put in a good effort against one of the NBA’s best teams, but the end result was not a surprise.

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Not with how dominant Oklahoma City and Canadian superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have been all year. He had a good night for most, but a quiet one by his impeccable standards.

Gilgeous-Alexander had scored 50 points on Wednesday, the third time in his previous seven games he’d scored at least 50, but was only needed for 29 minutes, scoring 25, since the game wasn’t in doubt at any point in the second half.

The Thunder led by 11 at halftime, by 14 after three quarters and only a late Toronto run in garbage time made the final a respectable 121-109.

Jalen Williams led Oklahoma City with 27, while Scottie Barnes shrugged off a rough shooting start to finish with 21. Gradey Dick added 17.

The Raptors didn’t have starting centre Jakob Poeltl in the lineup, or prized new acquisition Brandon Ingram. The team traded backup centre Kelly Olynyk, wing Bruce Brown and point guard Davion Mitchell at Thursday’s trade deadline, leaving the club undersized against any opponent, but particularly so against the gargantuan Thunder.

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Oklahoma City had Chet Holmgren and Isiah Hartenstein in the lineup together for the first time all season. Holmgren returned after missing 39 games due to a hip injury. Barnes didn’t give him a warm welcome back, rejecting a layup attempt in spectacular fashion in the first quarter, but that was the high point for the Raptors.

Barnes continued his recent struggles shooting the ball. He started the game 1-for-8 after going 4-for-18 and 8-for-23 over his previous two games, but did hit his next two, both three-pointers. He finished 8-for-20.

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The Thunder, 129-92 winners at Toronto two months ago, improved to 23-3 at home, won a fourth straight game and handed Toronto its fourth loss in five games following a five-game winning streak.

Toronto went with its 20th different starting lineup this season and fell 20 games under .500 at 16-36.

The trip continues in Houston Sunday before moving East to Philadelphia Tuesday. Toronto will host Cleveland on Wednesday to complete the back-to-back ahead of the NBA all-star break.

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