Just a few days have passed since the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a near 20-point deficit to trounce the Portland Trail Blazers at home, and since then, the Thunder has also defeated the Dallas Mavericks in overtime. Meanwhile, the Blazers have extended their losing streak to 3 with a 99-94 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Tonight, the Thunder and the Blazers meet in Portland for a late night tip-off.
The Thunder is missing a couple of extra bodies tonight as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is still out with a sprained ankle, and he is joined on the injury list by Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins, who are also dealing with sprained ankles. OKC will need to look deeper into their bench tonight, while the Blazers are expecting to get a couple of guys back in action.
Portland has been dealing with a shortened roster for a while now, and though Damian Lillard is still out, the Blazers are hoping to get Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller back on the floor tonight after dealing with injuries. As a result, Portland is a heavy favorite over OKC, but as is typically the case, don’t count out the Thunder as road dogs, especially when Luguentz Dort is rolling on offense. Just ask the Mavericks.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Tre Mann
- SF: Kenrich Williams
- PF: Luguentz Dort
- C: Derrick Favors
Blazers
- PG: Anfernee Simons
- SG: CJ McCollum
- SF: Norman Powell
- PF: Robert Covington
- C: Jusuf Nurkic
Injuries
Thunder
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Vit Krejci is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (third metatarsal fracture in right foot).
- Isaiah Roby is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Aaron Wiggins is OUT (sprained right ankle).
Blazers
- CJ Elleby is PROBABLE (strained left hamstring).
- Damian Lillard is OUT (core muscle recovery).
- Nassir Little is OUT (labral tear in left shoulder).
- Larry Nance Jr. is QUESTIONABLE (right knee inflammation).
- Cody Zeller is QUESTIONABLE (right knee recovery).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 26-26 (15-11 at home, 11-15 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 6 times, and tied 3 times.
- The Thunder went 1-2 (0-1 at home, 1-1 on the road) against the Blazers last season.
- The Thunder is 1-0 (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road) against the Blazers this season.