Thunder roll over the Lowry-less Raptors: 3 takeaways

Russell Westbrook tallied his 34th triple-double and the Raptors conveyed one major flaw.

There were indeed some basketball games on last night other than March Madness.

The Thunder defeated the Raptors last night,123-102. The Thunder outscored the Raptors every quarter and looked in total control of the game from the opening tip. The biggest lead the Thunder had was 32 points and they led for essentially the entire game. The scored was tied up a total of one time.

Russell Westbrook, unsurprisingly, led the Thunder in every category as he racked up another triple-double. He notched 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 16 assists in the win. The Thunder big men, Taj Gibson, Enes Kanter, and Steven Adams were all fantastic tonight when paired up against the Raptors big men, Jonas Valanciunas, Serge Ibaka, and Patrick Patterson.

This win was crucial for the Thunder as they are trying to solidify themselves as serious contenders in the West. But, this game was also very important to the Raptors as they continue to move down in the standings in the Eastern Conference. They were the No. 2 seed not too long ago, but have since slid down to No. 4.

Takeaways

The backup point guard position: The Thunder need a backup point guard. Westbrook has been carrying the load for this team for far too long and it is time that they find him a suitable backup.

Their former backup point guard, Cameron Payne, was shipped off to Chicago to join a desperate Bulls team. In return for the Payne, the Thunder received Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott. This was a good deal for Thunder — McDermott and Gibson have been helpful — but it’s reduced depth in the backcourt.

Without many options at the backup spot, the Thunder turned to Semaj Christon to handle those few minutes when Westbrook rests. Last night, Christon scored zero points, managing two rebounds and one assist in 20 minutes of action. The Thunder wanted a backup plan in case Christon got injured or did not play up to par, so, they signed Norris Cole to a contact for the rest of the season. Cole has underperformed his whole career, and can’t be realistically seen as an answer.

The Thunder have no clue what they are doing at the backup point guard position right now. They have to figure it out before the playoffs come around, or else they could be in serious trouble against deeper teams — for example, their potential first round matchup against the Houston Rockets.

The woes without Lowry: The Raptors are in trouble.

Kyle Lowry, the team’s All-Star point guard, has been out with a wrist injury since Feb. 24. The Raptors are struggling against their competition without Lowry.

Cory Joseph is a good option at the backup point guard position, but he is not equipped to take on the role of the starting point guard. Joseph totaled 11 points, 6 assists, and 2 rebounds. Those are good numbers for a backup playing starter minutes, but he cannot fill the void of All-Star production that Lowry gave to the team.

Without Lowry, the ball movement seems to stop. Last night, the Raptors assisted on 41 percent of their made shots and the Thunder assisted on 70 percent. When Lowry was healthy, he was averaging 6.9 assists while on the floor. To look a bit deeper into his production, Lowry generated 15.5 points off of his assists per game. If you add together his points per game (22.8) and his points off of assists, you get 38.3 points per game. Those are 38.3 points that the team is having to pick up in Lowry’s absence.

Lowry is crucial to the Raptor’s postseason success and he is expected to be back before the playoffs start. Hopefully, he can get back into the swing of things in time for their postseason run.

3-pointers equal success: The Thunder are not a good 3-point shooting team. Not by a long shot. The Raptors are ranked 14th in 3-point percentages and the Thunder are ranked 28th. But, within the last three games, these teams have both turned in the opposite direction. The Thunder are shooting 36.9 percent in the last three games and the Raptors are shooting 23.1 percent.

The key to both of these teams’ success is the 3-ball. When the Thunder are on fire from deep, they seem to be unstoppable. When the Raptors are off from behind the arc, their entire offense seems awry. And since Lowry is still out with an injury, the Raptors have much less 3-point shooting in their lineup.

Next: An NBA fans guide to March Madness

The Thunder brought in Doug McDermott from Chicago to try and boost their 3-point shooting. And while he has admittedly been disappointing this season, others have stepped their game up. Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson, and even Westbrook elevated their game. All shot very well from three-point land last night and they will hopefully continue to do so.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com