Raptors at Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder attempt to end a three-game slide when they host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday in the front end of a home-and-home set between the clubs. The Thunder are tied for fifth place in the Western Conference while Toronto remains second in the Eastern Conference behind the Milwaukee Bucks.
Oklahoma City's latest blemish was a 116-107 home loss to the Miami Heat on Monday as it played without All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook, who served a one-game suspension for drawing his 16th technical foul of the season. "We need to play better as a group," All-Star forward Paul George told reporters after the disappointing setback. "We're doing what we need to do, period. We're just not winning games. But we've got to figure out how to play better out there." Toronto reached the 50-win threshold for the fourth straight season by routing the New York Knicks 128-92 on Monday despite All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard being held out to rest. Point guard Kyle Lowry suffered an injury to his right ankle in the third quarter of the game and he could sit out Wednesday.
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, Sportsnet One (Toronto), FS Oklahoma
ABOUT THE RAPTORS (50-21): Lowry missed the previous two games with a left ankle injury and told reporters after the contest that the now-injured right ankle was "pretty tender." He also was highly displeased that the injury occurred during a scramble for a loose ball with New York rookie center Mitchell Robinson appearing to swerve into Lowry's legs. "I watched the clip," Lowry told reporters. "I think it was a little bit dirty. He grabbed me and pulled me down. I don't think he did it on purpose. I know he didn't think he was going to hurt me."
ABOUT THE THUNDER (42-29): Dennis Schroder (20 points) moved into the starting lineup in place of Westbrook and the bench took a major hit without him. The Miami reserves had a 67-10 edge in points as Oklahoma City's bench was 4-of-22 shooting and missed all 10 of its 3-point attempts. George scored 31 points against the Heat and is averaging 30.3 points over the past four contests, while forward Jerami Grant scored a career-best 27 points after averaging seven over the previous two games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder won the past three meetings.
2. Oklahoma City reserve PF-C Nerlens Noel (quadriceps) sat out against the Heat and is questionable for Wednesday's game.
3. Toronto backup PG Fred VanVleet had 13 points and 12 assists against the Knicks for his first career double-double as he returned from a 12-game absence due to a thumb injury.