Vitals: Raptors at Thunder

Everything you need to know when Toronto visits the Ford Center.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:31 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Feb 28, 2010 10:35 AM CDT

Gerald Goodridge
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

Toronto Raptors (31-29) at Oklahoma City Thunder (34-23)
Sunday, February 28, 2010, 6 p.m. CST.
Ford Center, Oklahoma City
Game 58 of 82

Anticipated Starting Lineups

	Toronto	Oklahoma City
PG	Jarrett Jack 11.1 PPG, 5.0 APG	Russell Westbrook 16.5 PPG, 7.8 APG
SG	DeMar DeRozan 8.1 PPG, 3.0 RPG	Thabo Sefolosha 6.0 PPG, 4.3 APG
SF	Hedo Turkoglu 12.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG	Kevin Durant 29.7 PPG, 7.6 RPG
PF	Rasho Nesterovic 4.4 PPG, 2.2 RPG	Jeff Green 14.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG
C	Andrea Bargnani 17.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG	Nenad Krstic 8.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG

Injuries
Toronto: F/C Chris Bosh (ankle, day-to-day).
Oklahoma City: G/F Kyle Weaver (shoulder, out); F DJ White (thumb, out).

Where to find it?
On TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma
On Radio: Thunder Radio Network

What you need to know...

Toronto has lost two straight games, but has been nothing but impressive offensively over the last nine games. The Raptors are averaging nearly 109 points per game in the month of February. Toronto is 9-9 against the Western Conference and an abysmal 2-6 on the road against the West. Toronto is sitting in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference and needs a few key wins to ensure prime playoff positioning.

With a win over Toronto, Oklahoma City will go 9-2 in the month of February. The only team with a chance to put up a better record in the month is Phoenix, who can post a 10-2 record if they beat the Spurs. The Thunder managed to snap its two-game losing streak with a convincing win over Minnesota and Oklahoma City could start another impressive streak with winnable games coming up.

Who to watch...

For the Raptors, it begins and ends with Chris Bosh. The five-time All-Star leads his team in scoring - 24.5 points per game- and rebounding - 11.4 boards per game. He's not listed as a starter, but if he can go, he will play. However, Andrea Bargnani is the guy who creates matchup issues for defenses. The 7-foot tall center has no problem stepping back and knocking down a jumper and has even made 84 shots from 3-point range this season.

Kevin Durant briefly led the NBA in scoring, but it’s hard to hold off a scoring machine like LeBron James. He is averaging 29.7 points per game, while grabbing 7.6 rebounds and is even second on the team in assists with 2.9 per game. The biggest story of the year may be the rapid maturity of Russell Westbrook. In only his second season in the league, the second-year has brought his assist total up from 4.9 per game in 2008 to 7.8 per game in 2009. The most impressive change is his assist-to-turnover ratio. Last season Westbrook guard had one turnover for every 1.46 assists, but this season he has increased that number to 2.48.