Post Game Report: Toronto Raptors Unable to Sweep Thunder, lose 119-118

The Toronto Raptors lose a close one in double overtime to a Kevin Durant game-winner; sounds familiar doesn’t it? The Raptors now drop to 38-30, while the Oklahoma City Thunder run away with the season series split. Despite struggling to score throughout the game, the Raptors’ defence and timely plays led by Greivis Vasquez, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, and Amir Johnson enabled them to stay competitive. Eventually, they were close, but no cigar, as Durant drained a long bomb from down-town, leaving 1.7 seconds on the clock in the 2nd overtime. What really decided this game was the poor coaching decision by Dwane Casey to trust John Salmons in the main minutes of the game, when Vasquez had fouled out. Salmons missed a wide-open DeRozan on the inbound, turns it over right under the basket, than misses two free-throws. As a result, Durant launches the game-winner. Can’t blame a loss on one player, but Salmons really did blow this one for his team. It was about as bad a sequence one can ever witness from a basketball player in the most important moments. Coach Casey loves to trust his “veterans,” but this time, it took a big bite out of his behind. Salmons looked far from a veteran in the dying moments of the game. Anyways, it was a nice try, the Raptors stuck in, and for a moment it looked like they were going to win it. Darn you, Kevin Durant.

Offence: C

The Claws struggled quite a bit in this one to gain a rhythm offensively, as a matter of fact, both teams were sub-par offensively. In the end, the Raptors finished with 40.6% from the field, and 27.6% from the perimeter. Along with their poor shooting, the Raptors turned the ball over an abysmal 18 times, followed by 17 lowly assists. It was a tough game, and the Thunder are a tough team to get points on, but there was no rhythm, and no movement, luckily, DeRozan, Lowry, Vasquez, and Johnson really showed up at that end. At the end of the game, what really hurt the team was Salmons’ inability to make an in-bounds pass, and make free-throws (quite frankly to ice the game).

Defence: B

The defence was what kept the Raptors in the game, despite a terrific showing from Kevin Durant. 8 blocked shots, 10 steals, and forced OKC to turn the ball over 14 times. Not to mention, awful shooting percentages; 38.8% from the field, and 33.3% from the perimeter. Amir couldn’t have done a better job defending Durant from the outside on that final shot; KD is just a great player, and a terrific scorer.

Rebounding: A

The rebounding was terrific for the Raptors tonight, winning the overall battle 57-47, the defensive rebounding battle 43-38, and the offensive rebounding fight 14-9. Key boards were made by Jonas Valanciunas, Amir, and even Tyler Hansbrough when he was in the game.

Game-Ball: Kevin Durant

Durant was absolutely spectacular tonight. Despite early struggles in the first half, he never let that become a hurdle in his ability to torch the Raptors all night. He was able to do most of the hurt/damage from the 3-point line, and the free-throw line, going 7-12, and 14-19 respectively. 51 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists for the Slim Reaper/The Servant/The Durantula, or whatever you would like to call him. It was also the first time a player has reached those totals, since Michael Jordan in 1992. Great shot, Kevin. See you in the NBA Finals. (That’s a joke, not entirely, but still).