The Oklahoma City Thunder plays in the lone NBA game on Sunday as they take on the Trail Blazers in Portland. The Thunder is fresh off a tough loss at home to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday night, but the Blazers have won 4 straight for the first time in a few seasons. OKC will be without Luguentz Dort (left knee soreness), but both Isaiah Hartenstein and Isaiah Joe are back in action, and Cason Wallace is good to go despite suffering a nasal fracture against the Mavericks on Thursday.
OKC has had Portland’s number for years now, which is poetic justice in a way after Damian Lillard waved bye-bye to the Thunder as modern fans knew it following the 2019 Playoffs. Since then, OKC has rebuilt into one of the true contenders for an NBA Championship while the Blazers have been basement dwellers in the West for some time now.
Still, the game must be played, and an underdog can win on any given night. OKC needs to refocus after letting the drama between Dallas get to them on Thursday. The Thunder should be able to handle the Blazers just fine, and it would do well to remind the league just how good this team really is.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 5 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 Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Portland Trail Blazers Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Blazers
- PG: Anfernee Simons
- SG: Toumani Camara
- SF: Deni Avdija
- PF: Jerami Grant
- C: Donovan Clingan
Injury Report
Thunder
- Luguentz Dort (right knee soreness) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (fractured right iliac wing) is OUT.
- Dillon Jones (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Ajay Mitchell (right great toe surgery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
Portland
- DeAndre Ayton (sprained left knee) is OUT.
- Matisse Thybulle (sprained right ankle) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 39-26 (21-11 at home, 18-15 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 is 2-0 against the Blazers so far this season (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won 14 straight against the Blazers including 7 straight in Portland.