Oklahoma City Thunder | Game #5 Preview: Portland Trail Blazers

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s hot start to the season continued on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs as they had no trouble shutting down Victor Wembanyama on the way to a 105-93 victory. Luguentz Dort led OKC with 20 points to go with his 6 rebounds, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled to shoot the ball well on his way to 18 points, but he did finish with 5 assists and 4 rebounds. Notably, Chet Holmgren scored an easy 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting while tallying 5 rebounds, 2, assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.

Tonight the Thunder takes on the Trail Blazers in Portland in the first game of a back-to-back on the road. The Blazers are 2-3 on the season so far and are coming off a 106-105 road win against the Los Angeles Clippers. OKC is once again a heavy favorite, and with good reason. The Thunder forces a league-high 21 turnovers while committing just 11.5 per game, 3rd-best in the NBA; and the Blazers turn it over 17 times per game, which is 7th-worst in the NBA.

Game Details

Tip-Off: 9 PM CT

Location: Moda Center (Portland, Oregon)

Television: FanDuel TV – Oklahoma

Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal

Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game

Game NotesOklahoma City Thunder Official Game NotesPortland Trail Blazers Official Game Notes

Projected Starters

Thunder

  • PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
  • SG: Cason Wallace
  • SF: Luguentz Dort
  • PF: Jalen Williams
  • C: Chet Holmgren

Blazers

  • PG: Anfernee Simons
  • SG: Toumani Camara
  • SF: Deni Avdija
  • PF: Jerami Grant
  • C: Deandre Ayton

Injury Report

Thunder

  • Alex Ducas (G League — two-way) is OUT.
  • Adam Flagler (G League — two-way) is OUT.
  • Isaiah Hartenstein (fractured left hand) is OUT.
  • Nikola Topic (left ACL surgery recovery) is OUT.
  • Jaylin Williams (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
  • Kenrich Williams (assigned to G League) is OUT.

Blazers

  • Shaedon Sharpe (labral tear in left shoulder) is OUT.
  • Matisse Thybulle (right knee injury maintenance) is OUT.
  • Robert Williams III (strained right hamstring) is OUT.

Head-to-Head

  • Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 37-26 (20-11 at home, 17-15 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 7 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 last season.
  • The Thunder has won 12 straight against the Blazers including 6 straight in Portland.

Leave a Reply