The Portland Trail Blazers (39-25) will host the Oklahoma City Thunder (39-25) on Thursday night. Portland is currently favored at -3.5 over OKC and holds a 24-8 home record this season. Portland comes into this game at -4 over Oklahoma City.
The Trail Blazers look to bounce back following their 120-111 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday. Damian Lillard finished with 24 points, and eight assists and C.J. McCollum led the team with 27 points, but it just wasn’t enough for Mike Conley’s career-high 40-point performance. The Trail Blazers enter this matchup against the Thunder winners of 6 of their last 10 games.
The Thunder have had their way with the Trail Blazers this season winning all three matchups. Both teams hold the same record, however, and the winner will take control of the 4th place in the Western Conference.
Thunder Seeking Bounce Back
OKC is coming off a 131-130 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night. Karl Anthony-Towns had himself a game scoring 41 points and reeling in 14 rebounds. Russell Westbrook wasn’t the problem considering he finished with 38 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists. Paul George was on his game as well as scoring 25 points. Outside of those two players though Dennis Schroder (14) and Steven Adams (13) were the next two highest scorers. The team will look to rebound against a team they’ve had a lot of success against this season. The Thunder have gone 17-6 on the road this year and hold a 4-6 record over their last 10 games.
It’s insane to think about the number of award races George is being put into this season. The All-Star small forward is in consideration for MVP, Most Improved and Defensive Player of the Year. Deservingly so considering what George is doing this season and the adversity he’s had to face throughout his career. He’s posting career-highs averaging 28.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.3 steals. Following his horrific leg injury with Team USA a few years ago, the Thunder are happy to have George back playing to the level he did in all those years with Indiana. Especially when you think about OKC giving up Victor Oladipo to the Pacers in exchange for George, but the trade has worked out for both sides so far.
Portland Finding Ways to Compete
Portland has been able to play OKC close in each game they’ve played this season. They’ve lost two games by nine points and the other by two. This is indeed a winnable game at home for the Trail Blazers. Looking back to when they last faced off on February 11th, it was a 47-point performance from George and a triple-double from Westbrook that led the Thunder to a win. That’s been the Thunders recipe for success this season considering the offense flows between the two All-Stars. Lillard led the Trail Blazers with 31 points in the loss, but where was McCollum? C.J. only scored 13 points in the last meeting but needs to be more productive alongside Lillard to give Portland a better chance against these teams that have multiple stars.
- Get more details: Oklahoma City at Portland NBA Match-up
