TV: NBA TV
- Last season after three games Oklahoma City was 3-0, one the way to a 5-0 start. This season the team is 1-2 but Thunder star Kevin Durant isn’t pushing the panic button, “It’s not the end of the world, man. We’re 1-2, we’ve got 79 more games. We’ve got to bounce back and that’s the type of team we are.”
- Last time out the Thunder lacked defensive energy at the beginning of the game with Atlanta and gave up 30 points to the Hawks. Toronto is 3rd in the NBA now in first quarter scoring (28.3), “We can’t start games in cruise mode,” Durant warned.
- Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has joined Michael Jordan (1989) and Kevin Garnett (2007) as the only players to start a season with three consecutive games of at least 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Both coaches are equally impressed with Lowry, “He’s playing like an All-Star,” Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said before the game, “he’s strong, he’s aggessive, he plays like pit bull.” Moments later just down the hall Raptors head coach Dwane Casey echoed Brooks, “Kyle’s playing like an All-Star right now.” Casey then told reporters how he wanted Lowry and the rest of the Raptors to defend OKC point guard Russell Westbrook, “we’re gonna pack the paint and if Russ backs out and hits 3s we’ll shake his hand and go on to Dallas.” The Raptors play the Mavericks tomorrow night. Westbrook is just 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) on 3-pointers.
- Last season Lowry and Thunder guard Kevin Martin were teammates in Houston tonight they will oppose each other. Martin is also off to a hot start averaging 20.7 points coming off the bench and shooting 70.6 percent (12-for-17) on 3-pointers.
– Randy Renner
Only time will tell. Well begun is half done, but in NBA nothing is legit till the all star weekend.