Fresh off the back of a 40th win of the campaign last time out, the Oklahoma City Thunder will entertain the challenge of the Toronto Raptors in Saturday's meeting at the PayCom Center.
The home side claimed an emphatic 129-92 triumph in the earlier meeting between the sides last December and now set out to complete a season sweep over their visitors for a second year running.
Match preview
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The Oklahoma City Thunder continued their recent decimation of teams on home turf by picking up a third consecutive victory in front of their fans when the Phoenix Suns came into town for Thursday's encounter.
Trailing by two points at half time, Mark Daigneault's men came out firing in the third quarter, which they won by a whopping 27 points, and that set the platform for another dominant display in the final 12 minutes to wrap up a 140-109 triumph.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continued his MVP charge with yet another 50-point game while also putting up eight rebounds and five assists, although fellow Thunder all-star Jalen Williams endured a largely underwhelming game with just 13 points on the board.
Gilgeous-Alexander's masterful display saw him become just the eighth player in NBA history and the fourth active player alongside Luka Doncic, James Harden and Damian Lillard to tally 50 points three times over a seven-game span.
With the trade deadline fast approaching, a couple of championship-contending teams are scrambling to get some last-minute business over the line, but you get the feeling the Thunder are still the team to beat in the Western Conference, where they currently sit top, boasting a 40-9 record.
Averaging a little above 136 points per game over their last three matches and giving up just 105 per game in that time, Saturday's hosts have been in blistering form of late ahead of this weekend's affair as they set out to join the Cleveland Cavaliers as the only teams to have won more than 40 games this term.
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After closing out January with five wins on the bounce, the Toronto Raptors looked to have undergone a mid-season renaissance, but their form since the start of February has slowed down any momentum gained in the week prior.
A 122-106 defeat to the Chicago Bulls kicked off a four-game home stretch for Darko Rajakovic's men, who then beat the Los Angeles Clippers but have since lost to the New York Knicks and most recently the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Raptors flew out of the blocks against the Grizzlies and went into the locker room up by six points before a second-half capitulation saw them fall to a 138-107 loss—their heaviest since December's 125-71 shellacking at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
Rookies Jamal Shead and Ja'Kobe Walter led the way in scoring for the Raptors but managed just 14 points apiece alongside Ochai Agbaji in a game that saw Scottie Barnes record his second-lowest point tally since the turn of the year.
Having recently acquired the services of Brandon Ingram, Saturday's visitors will be hoping to make a late push for a play-in spot in the Eastern Conference, where they currently sit bottom but two ahead of this weekend's trip to Oklahoma.
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Team News
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Recent arrival Daniel Theis is not expected to make his Oklahoma City Thunder debut in this one, having only just joined from the New Orleans Pelicans under 48 hours ago.
Cason Wallace (shoulder) and Chet Holmgren (hip) are also expected to miss out here, with the latter set to be reevaluated over the next three to five weeks to gauge his readiness for action.
Nikola Topic and Ajay Mitchell are both long-term absentees for the home side, who, however, welcomed back Alex Caruso against the Phoenix Suns last time out.
Point guard Immanuel Quickley was handed a rest in the Raptors' defeat to the Grizzlies last time out, but he is expected to suit up for this weekend's encounter.
However, Jakob Poeltl (hip) and Brandon Ingram (ankle) are major doubts for this one due to respective injury concerns, while RJ Barrett could also miss out with a concussion.
Oklahoma City Thunder possible starting five:
Gilgeous-Alexander, Wiggins; Williams, Dort; Hartenstein
Toronto Raptors possible starting five:
Shead, Walter; Dick, Barnes; Olynyk
We say: Thunder to win by 15+ points
A win for the Raptors here would easily rank as one of the biggest upsets of the season given the Thunder's sizzling form this term.
We fully expect the home side to cruise to a routine win at the sound of the final buzzer.
Adepoju Marvellous
