OKC Bench Shines as Thunder Fall to Raptors

The Thunder dropped its third straight game Wednesday night, losing to Toronto 117-98 behind Pascal Siakam’s 27 points.

The Thunder were plagued by shooting woes all night long as OKC shot just 41.4 percent from the floor and 29.8 percent from downtown. The Thunder had four players make multiple 3-pointers, but the problem was the volume the team took. OKC shot 47 3-pointers Wednesday night.

OKC got solid production from a multitude of players Wednesday. Darius Bazley, Josh Giddey and Lu Dort all started and scored in double-digits on the night.

Bazley continued his strong play finishing with 13 points and four rebounds. While Dort didn’t have a strong shooting performance, he still managed to net 15 points. Giddey had a very efficient performance with 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Oklahoma City got surprising help off the bench from Theo Maledon and Aleksej Pokusevski. Maleon, who had some strong showings for the OKC Blue, finished with 18 points. Poku had one of his best games of the season, recording 18 points and steals.

In the first half, OKC got off to a slow start. The Thunder struggled to defend, allowing 34 first quarter points. The 3-point defense was lacking and Toronto took advantage of it, as Gary Trent Jr. and Fred VanVleet got going from deep.

The Thunder really struggled to slow down Pascal Siakam who had a 20-point half. OKC was able to claw back and win the second quarter behind 11 first half points from Darius Bazley.

At halftime, Oklahoma City trailed Toronto 59-51. The Thunder did a solid job of battling back in the second quarter and not letting it get out of reach.

In the third quarter, Trent really got going for Toronto. He hit tough shot after tough shot to extend the Raptors lead. After a deep 3-pointer from Trent to end the quarter, OKC suddenly trailed by 15 heading into the final frame.

Oklahoma City trailed by as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter and couldn't overcome a late Raptor run. OKC couldn't overcome a rough shooting night from deep and couldn't string together enough second half stops.

The loss to Toronto marks the third straight loss for Oklahoma City. The Thunder will be back in action Friday night, as OKC travels to Philadelphia to take on the 76ers at 6 p.m. on Friday

Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

Add us as a preferred source on Google