Tip-Off: 9 PM CT
Location: Moda Center (Portland, Oregon)
Television: Fox Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live-tweets and discussion during the game
With just 4 minutes left in the game on Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder (6-9) trailed the Los Angeles Clippers (13-4) by 17. The Thunder was able to get back into it, however, as they managed to trim the deficit to just 6 with 1:56 left to go, but in the end, the Clippers were too much.
Now the Thunder continues their 5-game road trip as they get ready to take on the Portland Trail Blazers (9-6). The Blazers are fresh off a 116-113 home victory over the New York Knicks, a game that was much closer than it should have been after the Blazers went into halftime with a 22-point lead.
Portland should be a decent matchup for OKC, especially when you consider the injuries the Blazers have had over the last couple of weeks. Both CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic are out for extended time, leaving Damian Lillard to shoulder the load.
The Thunder and the Blazers have plenty of history between them, and Lillard just released a Thunder-themed colorway for his shoe, commemorating the shot that he hit over Paul George to send the Thunder home in the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs. Hamidou Diallo is the only remaining player from that roster, so I’m not sure how much emotion will play into the matchup, but I know Thunder fans would like to see the Blazers handed a loss on their home court.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Hamidou Diablo
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Isaiah Roby
Blazers
- PG: Damian Lillard
- SG: Derrick Jones Jr.
- SF: Rodney Hood
- PF: Robert Covington
- C: Enes Kanter
Injuries
Thunder
- Trevor Ariza is OUT (not with team).
- Josh Hall (health and safety protocols).
- George Hill is OUT (sprained right thumb).
- Al Horford is OUT (personal reasons).
- Ty Jerome is OUT (sprained left ankle).
Blazers
- Zach Collins is OUT (left ankle stress fracture).
- CJ McCollum is OUT (left foot midfoot fracture).
- Jusuf Nurkic is OUT (fractured right wrist).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 24-24 (14-10 at home, 10-14 on the road) against the Trail Blazers in the regular season and 1-4 (1-1 at home, 0-3 on the road) in the playoffs.
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Trail Blazers 4 times, lost it 5 times, and tied 3 times.
- The Thunder went 2-2 (1-1 at home, 1-1 on the road) against the Blazers last season.