Rolling Raptors stun Thunder thanks to Quickley, Barnes

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The Toronto Raptors wrapped up one of the best long road trips in franchise history with another win on Sunday, this time against NBA-best Oklahoma City.

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Immanuel Quickley was superb and Scottie Barnes stole the game by blocking Thunder giant Chet Holmgren and then gaining control of the ball late in the fourth quarter. He then got an offensive rebound after two Raptors free-throw misses in the dying seconds.

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The 103-99 victory was Toronto’s fourth straight since losing to the Los Angeles Lakers to begin the trip.

The Raptors held Canadian superstar point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to only 24 points and without a three-pointer for only the third time all season as the Thunder lost two straight at home for the first time since early in the 2023-24 season. Toronto moved 10 games over .500 for the first time in years.

Quickley finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds, outplaying Gilgeous-Alexander, while Barnes made every key play late despite having five fouls.

OKC remains a force even without Gilgeous-Alexander’s co-star Jalen Williams and starting centre Isaiah Hartenstein, but had been shocked Friday by lowly Indiana despite 47 points from SGA.

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Some takeaways from a significant Raptors win:

I.Q. IN COMFORT ZONE

Perhaps the most positive story from this trip for the Raptors was the stellar play of Quickley. The point guard had become a bit of a lightning rod for criticism for some Raptors fans, even though he hadn’t been terrible, just not as good as he’s been in the past.

But after getting his rhythm against the Lakers after missing two straight games, Quickley had the best game of his career (40 points and 10 assists with only two missed shots) against Golden State, followed by a pair of strong efforts at Sacramento and then Portland.

That was apparently just the warmup, though. Quickley wasn’t even guaranteed to play on Sunday, but toughed it out and was the best Raptor in the first quarter and possibly for the opening half, where he shot 3-for-4 on three-pointers. He kept it rolling down the stretch and the team needed it, with only RJ Barrett really having a good offensive game besides Quickley.

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Teams had been playing zone defence on the Raptors, knowing they’d been the worst three-point shooting team in the league over the past month or so, but recently Toronto had been countering zones well. Quickley had been a major reason why. Besides his team-best outside shot-making, Quickley also has been more willing to get into the lane and attack the basket.

It’s a good sign moving forward that he’s found his game because Quickley is much better than many perceive him to be simply because they believe his contract is too rich.

HAMILTON’S FINEST WILL BE MVP AGAIN

The NBA MVP race has become a bit anticlimactic thanks to a run of injuries to superstars. Nikola Jokic, who has won the award three times and was regarded, at worst, as a 50/50 contender to add a fourth this year got hurt in late-December. But now it’s unlikely he’ll be able to play the 65 games required to qualify for MVP. Jokic can miss only three more games, but hasn’t yet returned to action.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, a two-time winner who is widely regarded as the NBA’s third-best player also just went down, for a second time this year and won’t meet the games-played requirements.

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That all means Gilgeous-Alexander will likely coast to his second-straight MVP win, joining Steve Nash as the only Canadians with two wins, both coming back-to-back if that comes to pass. Hopefully the Jokic and Antetokounmpo injuries won’t take any of the shine off the season Gilgeous-Alexander is having, because it’s another one for the ages. He’d led the Thunder to a league-best .804 winning percentage and 37 wins heading into Sunday, while leading all in total points, win shares and value over replacement player. His 32.4 points per game trailed only Luka Doncic and nearly matched last year’s total. Gilgeous-Alexander has also tallied his best field goal and true shooting percentages with his second-best three-point shooting numbers, all while posting his best assist rate and lowest turnover rate.

The bright side of Jokic’s injury is that Jamal Murray, of Kitchener, is set to be named to his first all-star game and will likely finish in the top 10 of MVP voting himself. That would mark the first time two Canadians have both finished that high in the voting.

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With another win, Gilgeous-Alexander would become just the 15th player with at least two MVPs, joining all-time greats with two like Steph Curry, Tim Duncan, Antetokounmpo and Karl Malone. He’d also have more MVP awards than legends like Kobe Bryant, Bob Cousy, Kevin Garnett, Julius Erving, Shaquille O’Neal, Oscar Robertson and Hakeem Olajuwon. Not bad.

JAK’S BAD BACK OFF-TRACK

If you’re waiting for Jakob Poeltl to play again sometime soon, don’t hold your breath.

Toronto’s starting centre, sidelined since playing seven minutes on Dec. 21 due to ongoing back issues, is still without a return timeline.

The Raptors announced earlier Sunday that Poeltl returned to Toronto early and has “received targeted pain relief treatment.”

They added there won’t be further updates until he returns to practice.

That doesn’t sound ideal.

Toronto was again without standout rookie Collin Murray-Boyles, who had been playing well as an undersized centre, but he should be back for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks.

Sophomore wing Ja’Kobe Walter returned after being out since a five-minute appearance on Jan. 5, a seven-game absence.

Toronto has the best road record in the conference and now is one win short of last season’s total.

@WolstatSun

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