Game day: Raptors at Thunder
CHESAPEAKE ENERGY ARENA, Oklahoma City Tipoff: Wednesday, 8 p.m. TV: Sportsnet One Radio: TSN1050
Probable starters Toronto: Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl. Oklahoma City: Russell Westbrook, Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson, Domantas Sabonis, Steven Adams.
Key matchup: Kyle Lowry, Raptors, vs. Russell Westbrook, Thunder. A pair of premier point guards collide. Lowry has been off to a so-so start to the season, shooting 37%, but Westbrook has been other-worldly, averaging 30.4 points, 9.9 assists and 8.4 rebounds in seven games. The Thunder guard was one assist shy (in the opener) of starting the season with three straight triple-doubles.
Need to know: Injured Toronto centre Jonas Valanciunas was to travel with the team but he is listed as day-today with knee swelling after sitting out Sunday’s game and not practising Tuesday. He may miss a chance to go against fellow Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis, the son of iconic Arvydas Sabonis, the six-time European player of the year who spent seven seasons with Portland in his 30s . . .
Oklahoma City, off to its best start, used a 20-0 third-quarter run to beat the Heat on Monday and improve to 6-1 . . . Raptors head coach Dwane
Casey cast his ballot for Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election, citing her experience as a determining factor. Up next: Friday at Charlotte, 7 p.m. Doug Smith