Here are 10 takeaways from the Toronto Raptors' 117-98 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
One -- The Raptors were neat and tidy in their comfortable win over the Thunder, who were without their best player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There were stretches of lethargy, which is to be expected when playing against a tanking team that is actively looking to lose games, but the Raptors' leaders would always take over whenever the lead fell into single-digits, and a firm push at the end got Nick Nurse to empty his bench with two minutes left. The win streak is now at seven games as the Raptors continue to be one of the hottest teams in the NBA over the past two months.
Two -- Pascal Siakam dominated the Thunder in every way imaginable. He finished the half with 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting, and one of the three misses was on a drive to the rim where he picked up his dribble outside of the three-point arc, used two long strides and his reach to get to the basket, before flipping the shot high off the backboard to himself with the intention of beating his man on the putback. Siakam's whole night was one long highlight reel, with other highlights to include a spin move in transition which got him past two defenders -- both his own man and the help defender at the rim -- before finishing the scoop layup with his left hand. Siakam also grabbed 15 rebounds which is yet another sign of his endless motor. Despite playing 40 minutes, he showed no signs of exhaustion, nor any let-up in focus.
Three -- Out of all the highlights from Siakam, one stands out. It came in the fourth quarter with Siakam attacking from the elbow. The Raptors didn't have any consistent shooters on the floor beside him aside from OG Anunoby, and their spacing was poor in general with four players all on the weak side at once, which allowed OKC to put all five defenders with at least a foot in the paint to shield against the drive. Siakam read this, waited for Dalano Banton to cut through, before spinning away from the double team at the elbow for a calm jumper which thwarted all of the Thunder's best efforts.
Four -- Fred VanVleet could break Kyle Lowry's record for most threes in a season by a Raptors player before March. VanVleet knocked down another six triples to bring his total up to 191, which already matches the career mark set by VanVleet last season, and at his current rate of four makes per game, it's a guarantee that he surpasses Lowry's total of 238 in the coming weeks. It's not as if other teams aren't aware of VanVleet's dominance from beyond the arc, but he keeps finding ways to slip free. Of his six makes, four were of the highest difficulty on pull-up jumpers which includes a four-point play on a three where he was tripped, and VanVleet cashed in another two as the trailer in transition from well beyond the arc both times with the long arms of Lu Dort flying out at him. The only other player in the same class as VanVleet in terms of outside shooting this season is Stephen Curry.
Five -- VanVleet was even more impressive on the defensive end. He was only credited with two steals in the official boxscore, yet he was directly responsible for seven turnovers by the Thunder. VanVleet was a menace in the first quarter, forcing the first four turnovers of the game by the Thunder, and his help rotations were especially vital in the Raptors' efforts to slow down Dort, who always gets up for games against his native country. The Raptors limited Dort all night by sending a second defender at him on his drive, where VanVleet would dig in and chomp at the ball right at the moment where Dort picked it up to make his move.
Six -- OG Anunoby keeps finding ways to expand his game even with limited touches. In the fourth quarter, Anunoby had the ball in the post against Alexei Pokusevski, who the Raptors picked on all night in addition to the matchup against Josh Giddey. Anunoby initially planned to face up on the play, but saw that the Thunder were sending a second help defender from the top of the floor, so he shifted into a post up, moved towards the baseline away from the help, then used a spin move to get past Pokusevski's toothpick frame before finishing on the reverse layup.
Seven -- Slowly but surely, the Raptors are finding ways to make use of Precious Achiuwa on offence. His finishing still needs work and that's something to be hammered out in the offseason, but he does have strengths to build on at the moment as an occasional playmaker. The Raptors generated decent offence through Achiuwa, starting with a post-up where Achiuwa drew two defenders, kicked it out, and set up a swing-swing sequence that resulted in Siakam knocking down an open three. Then, Achiuwa drove it through the defence, got the help defender to rotate, before cooly dumping it down to Scottie Barnes for a layup. Achiuwa also attacked a closeout in the corner to set himself up for a putback and picked off a pass before taking it coast-to-coast for a layup. These are encouraging moments to be refined and developed.
Eight -- This was the first game in weeks where Chris Boucher had an off night. He picked up five fouls in 19 minutes, largely as a result of being a step late on defensive rotations. Offensively, he was still in the right places to capitalize offcuts and putbacks, but his turnaround this season has mostly been on his commitment to the defensive end. Nurse and Bobby Webster both complimented Boucher on his consistency of late, noting that Boucher's good games have been four out of five nights of late, and this is just one minor blip in an otherwise encouraging year for Boucher.
Nine -- The Thunder aren't just young and rebuilding, they're comically bad at times. Just look at this play from their reserve point guard Ty Jerome, who jacked up 12 threes in 31 minutes despite being a 29-percent shooter. His shot selection paled in comparison to the lack of clock awareness here.
Ten -- It was rather odd to see Malachi Flynn take a last-second three even with the shot clock turned off. The game was over and players were already walking off when he decided to randomly hoist up one last shot in hopes of getting on the score sheet, which is a bit of a faux pas. It was reminiscent of Flynn at home earlier in the year, where long after the game was over he returned to the court with a trainer to re-do his shooting routine after the arena had all but filed out. Things just haven't clicked for Flynn at all this season, and he could be moved at the trade deadline.
