The Oklahoma City Thunder managed to break a season-long 5-game win streak on Saturday night when they held on to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 115-109. OKC was without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey, among others, and Ja Morant was ejected right before halftime after receiving his second technical foul for complaining about the officiating. The Thunder led by as many as 24 at one point, but the Grizzlies fought back and made a game of it in the end.
Tonight the Thunder hosts Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers, who are 17-13 on the season and 6th in the Western Conference. The Blazers have won 6 of their last 8 games, but two have come against teams outside of playoff contention and two were against the Timberwolves, who are just at 10th in the standings.
OKC will likely be without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again, as well as Josh Giddey, so it will be up to some of the second unit guys to make the most of their extra time. The Blazers may be missing a couple of guys in Jerami Grant (back spasms) and Jusuf Nurkic (right calf soreness), who are both questionable to play, so perhaps the game will be a little more even as far as roster availability goes.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: Bally Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Portland Trail Blazers Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Isaiah Joe
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Aleksej Pokusevski
Blazers
- PG: Damian Lillard
- SG: Anfernee Simons
- SF: Josh Hart
- PF: Jerami Grant
- C: Jusuf Nurkic
Injury Report
Thunder
- Darius Bazley is OUT (non-Covid illness).
- Ousmane Dieng is OUT (non-displaced fractured right wrist).
- Josh Giddey is OUT (non-Covid illness).
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is QUESTIONABLE (lower back contusion).
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Tre Mann is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Jaylin Williams is OUT (G League — on assignment).
Blazers
- Jerami Grant is QUESTIONABLE (back spasms).
- Josh Hart is PROBABLE (sprained left ankle).
- Nassir Little is OUT (fractured right femoral head impaction).
- Jusuf Nurkic is PROBABLE (right calf soreness).
- Gary Payton II is OUT (return to competition conditioning).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 29-26 (16-11 at home, 13-15 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 4-0 (2-0 at home, 2-0 on the road) against the Blazers this season.