Only the Portland Trail Blazers have been able to topple the mighty Oklahoma City Thunder this season. On Sunday afternoon, the Blazers will have a chance to make it two wins against the defending NBA champions before any other opponent can even beat them once.
The two teams will battle for the third time this month. Portland won 121-119 at Moda Center on November 5th, with Oklahoma City getting revenge on their home floor on November 23rd.
Buckle up early: tipoff for round three is scheduled for 3pm Pacific.
The Thunder are 19-1 and every bit as dominant as their record suggests. They are winning by an average of nearly 16 points per game, which would shatter the NBA record they set last year en route to a championship. Last season’s league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has picked up where he left off. He’s second in the league in scoring at 32.9 points per game, even though he plays just 33.4 minutes per night and often gets fourth quarters off during Thunder blowouts.
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Oklahoma City has the NBA’s best defense. They are tied for the league lead in steals and allow the fewest second chance points, the fewest points in the paint, and the second fewest fast break points.
And if that wasn’t enough, they are about to get better and deeper. Jalen Williams returned to the Thunder lineup for Friday’s 123-119 home win over the Phoenix Suns. After missing the team’s first 19 games, Williams made just 3-12 shots for 11 points, but is coming off a breakout season that earned him third-team All-NBA honors, a spot on the All-Defense second-team, and his first All-Star appearance.
But as great as the Thunder have been, the Blazers have proven that they are beatable.
The Thunder got revenge for their only loss when the teams played last weekend. This time, it’s the Blazers looking to bounce back not only from that performance, but from a disappointing end to their NBA Cup tournament.
If the Blazers have any advantage against the Thunder, it’s that they will be playing at home, well-rested, and presumably well-fed as they haven’t played since the night before Thanksgiving. That night, they suffered a 115-102 home loss to the Victor Wembanyama-less San Antonio Spurs, eliminating them from NBA Cup contention.
It was one of the first big tests for this iteration of the Blazers. Had they prevailed, they would have won Group C and advanced to the knockout round. Fans may be divided on whether the NBA Cup means anything, but several Blazers admitted after the game that it mattered to them.
While they didn’t pass that test, there was at least some good news on Wednesday night. Shaedon Sharpe returned from a four game injury absence to score 11 points and grab five rebounds. As he ramps back up, the Blazers will need his scoring if they have any hope of handing the Thunder their second loss.
Oklahoma City Thunder (19-1) at Portland Trail Blazers (8-11) – Sun. Nov 30th – 3:00pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the Rip City Television Network.
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Rip City Radio 620AM
Trail Blazers Injuries: Scoot Henderson, Damian Lillard, Matisse Thybulle, Blake Wesley, Jrue Holiday (Out); Donovan Clingan (Questionable).
Thunder Injuries: Nikola Topic, Thomas Sorber, Aaron Wiggins, Ajay Mitchell, Isaiah Hartenstein (Out).
Pace and Steals. Are the Blazers actually a fast-paced team? On the season, the Blazers are currently third in the NBA in pace, which basically measures how many possessions a team gets in a game. That would seem to indicate that yes, the Blazers like to run and get shots up early in the shot clock.
But over their past 10 games, the Blazers are just 16th in pace of play as their defense has struggled to generate turnovers. During that stretch, they are 28th in steals and 27th in overall defensive rating.
Portland registered a season-low three steals in Wednesday’s loss to San Antonio. That won’t cut it against the defending champs. They will need to find a way to force some turnovers to stay competitive against Oklahoma City.
Three Point Shooting. In the modern NBA, three point shooting is something to watch for in every game. But it is especially critical to the Blazers, because they take the fourth-most threes per game in the league despite making the second-lowest percentage.
In their eight wins, they shoot 37.8% from behind the arc. In their 11 losses, that percentage drops all the way down to 28.3%.
Unsurprisingly, that’s one of the stories of their previous two meetings with the Thunder. In the loss, they were 12-47 (25.5%). In the win, they were 19-43 (44.2%) with major contributions from unexpected places. Duop Reath made 4-5 and Toumani Camara made 3-5. Can Reath, Camara or other Portland role players step up again on Sunday?
SGA’s Shot Locations. There is no stopping Gilgeous-Alexander. He gets to the basket on his drives, he draws fouls, he makes nearly 90% of his free throws, he’s one of the game’s best mid-range shooters, and this year, he has taken his three-point marksmanship to a new level (42.3% on 5.2 attempts per game).
For the Blazers on Sunday, it’s not a matter of shutting down Gilgeous-Alexander, it’s a matter of making things more difficult for him.
Let’s take a look at Gilgeous-Alexander’s shot selection from the previous two matchups:
- In the loss to the Blazers on November 5th, 11 of his 26 shot attempts (42.3%) came in the paint.
- In the win over the Blazers on November 23rd, 12 of his 18 shot attempts (66.7%) came in the paint.
Keeping him out of the paint doesn’t guarantee that the Blazers can keep him in check. But it definitely gives them a better chance.
The Ringer’s Kirk Goldsberry thinks the single-season wins record could be in play for the Thunder:
Every other team has been allowing at least 110 points per 100 possessions so far this season. The Thunder are allowing 103. The gap between them and the second-ranked Pistons defense is seven points per 100. That’s the same gap between the Pistons and the 22nd-ranked Bucks.
And OKC isn’t just winning games; it’s blowing everyone out. Aside from their lone loss in Portland, every Thunder game this month has been a double-digit win.
Bleacher Report ranked every NBA team’s City Edition jersey. The PDX carpet uniforms, which the Blazers will wear Sunday afternoon, placed 11th:
The teal looks great against the black. White was the right choice for the lettering and numbering, and the one big stripe across the torso looks sharp.
What really sets these apart, though, is what’s contained in that stripe. If you get a close enough look, you’ll see some geometric shapes. And the entire pattern is an homage to the carpet in the aforementioned airport. Yes, the carpet.
Is it a little weird? Sure, but the city proudly declares, “Keep Portland Weird.” And more importantly for today’s exercise, the entire jersey just looks cool.
