Who’s playing
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Toronto Raptors
Current records: Oklahoma City 48-20, Toronto 23-46
How to watch
- When: Friday March 22, 2024 at 7 p.m. ET
- Or: Scotiabank Arena — Toronto, Ontario
- TV: The sports network
- Follow: CBS Sports app
- Online broadcast: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
- Ticket cost: $51.76
What there is to know
The Raptors will be in front of their home fans on Friday, but a look at the seeding shows they might need that home-court advantage. They will face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. The Raptors enter the game with eight straight losses, while the Thunder will enter the game with three straight wins.
It’s hard to win when you don’t work as a team and post 11 fewer assists than your opponent, a fact the Raptors found out the hard way on Wednesday. Things couldn’t have been much worse for them as they lost 123-89 to Sacramento. The result shouldn’t be surprising considering it’s the fewest points the Raptors have scored all season.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City earned a 119-107 victory over the Jazz on Wednesday.
The Thunder can attribute much of their success to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 31 points along with seven assists and four steals, and Chet Holmgren, who had a double-double with 35 points and 14 rebounds. Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t help the Thunder’s cause much against the Grizzlies on Saturday, but the same can’t be said for this game.
Toronto has been on a rocky road recently after losing ten of its last 11 games, which took a major dent in its 23-46 record this season. As for Oklahoma City, they have performed incredibly well recently as they have won six of their last seven games, which was a nice improvement from their 48-20 record this season.
In this competition, the number of possessions is likely to be a big factor: the Raptors haven’t given up the ball easily this season, averaging just 13 turnovers per game. However, it’s not like the Thunder (currently ranked second in turnovers per game) are struggling in this department, as they’ve only averaged 11.5 turnovers per game. Given these competing forces, it will be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
The Raptors fell short against the Thunder in their previous game in February, losing 135-127. Will the Raptors have better luck at home than on the road?
Odds
Oklahoma City is a big 15-point favorite against Toronto, according to the latest NBA Odds.
Oddsmakers had a good idea of the line for this one, as the game opened with the Thunder as a 15.5-point favorite.
The over/under is 230.5 points.
See NBA Pick for every game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get Picks Now.
History of the series
Oklahoma City has won 6 of its last 10 games against Toronto.
- February 4, 2024 – Oklahoma City 135 vs. Toronto 127
- March 16, 2023 – Toronto 128 vs. Oklahoma City 111
- November 11, 2022 – Oklahoma City 132 vs. Toronto 113
- February 9, 2022 – Toronto 117 vs. Oklahoma City 98
- December 8, 2021 – Oklahoma City 110 vs. Toronto 109
- April 18, 2021 – Toronto 112 vs. Oklahoma City 106
- March 31, 2021 – Oklahoma City 113 vs. Toronto 103
- January 15, 2020 – Toronto 130 vs. Oklahoma City 121
- December 29, 2019 – Oklahoma City 98 vs. Toronto 97
- March 22, 2019 – Oklahoma City 116 vs. Toronto 109
