The Oklahoma City Thunder has won two games in a row since losing to the San Antonio Spurs on Christmas Day, and now they look to extend their win streak at home on New Year’s Eve as they host the Portland Trail Blazers. On Monday against the Atlanta Hawks, the Thunder got off to a hot start on the offensive end, but they struggled on the defensive end, a recurring trend lately. A dominant third quarter flipped the script, however, and although the Hawks made the game interesting in the fourth, OKC held on for the 140-129 win.
The Thunder has prided itself on the defensive end of the floor for a few seasons now, but the last couple of weeks have been bleak. While OKC still has the best defense in the league, they have looked more middle-of-the-road over the last six games. A few losses can bring even the most dominant team back to earth, though, and as good as this team can play, it shouldn’t take long to get back to the old ways of smothering opposing offenses, forcing turnovers, and scoring on the other end.
Thunder basketball and New Year’s Eve go hand in hand in Oklahoma City, and if the Thunder wants to give fans something to cheer about heading into 2026, dominating an inferior team like the Blazers would certainly do the trick.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 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: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Blazers
- PG: Deni Avdija
- SG: Shaedon Sharpe
- SF: Toumani Camara
- PF: Sidy Cissoko
- C: Donovan Clingan
Injury Report
Thunder
- Brooks Barnhizer (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Ousmane Dieng (strained right calf) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (strained left soleus) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Jaylin Williams (right heel bursitis) is OUT.
Blazers
- Jerami Grant (left Achilles tendonitis) is OUT.
- Scoot Henderson (torn left hamstring) is OUT.
- Jrue Holiday (strained right calf) is OUT.
- Damian Lillard (left Achilles tendon injury management) is OUT.
- Kris Murray (right quad contusion) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Matisse Thybulle (left thumb ligament tear) is OUT.
- Blake Wesley (fractured right foot) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 42-26 (23-11 at home, 20-15 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 went 4-0 against Portland last season (2-0 at home, 2-0 on the road).
- OKC is 2-1 against Portland so far this season (1-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- The Thunder has won the last 9 consecutive meetings with the Blazers at the Paycom Center.