The Oklahoma City Thunder is 2-0 in NBA Cup group play, and they are heavily favored against the Portland Blazers on Sunday night. A win in this one would put the Thunder in a great position to advance to the NBA Cup Tournament. OKC is also 16-1 on the season, just one win away from matching the record start of 17-1 by the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls.
OKC’s lone loss was to the Blazers earlier this month in Portland, but the circumstances are much different this time. That meeting was the 3rd game in 4 nights for the Thunder, and OKC was without Chet Holmgren and Luguentz Dort. Now it is Portland that is missing a key player in Jrue Holiday, on top of the injuries they have been dealing with all season long.
Since that meeting on November 5th, OKC has run off 8 straight wins, while Portland has gone 2-6. The Thunder is still waiting on the return of Jalen Williams, and Aaron Wiggins has missed extended time, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to look like an MVP, and while teams have been able to hang around for a quarter or two, OKC’s third-quarter runs are starting to become every opponent’s nightmare.
Oddsmakers continue to make the Thunder monster favorites, but no game is a foregone conclusion: it must be played. That’s where OKC’s ‘0-0’ mindset continues to keep the team fresh and ready to go, regardless of who is healthy. After playing 3 of the last 4 games on the road, Thunder fans will be excited to have the group back in the Paycom Center for 3 straight home games over Thanksgiving week.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: FanDuel Sports Network 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: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Blazers
- PG: Sidy Cissoko
- SG: Toumani Camara
- SF: Deni Avdija
- PF: Jerami Grant
- C: Donovan Clingan
Injury Report
Thunder
- Branden Carlson (nasal fracture) is AVAILABLE.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Aaron Wiggins (strained left adductor) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (right wrist surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Kenrich Williams (left knee surgical recovery) is OUT.
Blazers
- Donovan Clingan (sprained left ankle) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Scoot Henderson (left hamstring tear) is OUT.
- Jrue Holiday (strained right calf) is OUT.
- Damian Lillard (torn left Achilles tendon injury management) is OUT.
- Shaedon Sharpe (strained right calf) is OUT.
- Matisse Thybulle (left thumb ligament tear) is OUT.
- Blake Wesley (fractured right foot) is OUT.
- Robert Williams III (left knee injury management) is QUESTIONABLE.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 41-26 (22-11 at home, 19-15 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 8 times, lost it 6 times, and tied 3 times.
- OKC is 0-1 against Portland so far this season (0-0 at home, 0-1 on the road), but the Thunder has won the last 8 consecutive meetings with the Blazers at the Paycom Center.