The Oklahoma City Thunder regularly dominate the Trail Blazers, and they will attempt to post their 17th consecutive victory in the series when they visit Portland on Wednesday night.
The Thunder have swept the four-game season series from Portland in each of the past four campaigns, including beatdowns of 139-77 and 134-91 during the 2023-24 season. The 62-point steamrolling in Oklahoma City is tied for the fifth-highest winning margin in NBA history.
Portland at least benefits from having a day off on Tuesday while the Thunder were notching a 126-107 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Thunder posted their eighth straight win to start the season, the best streak in the franchise’s Oklahoma City era after the move from Seattle. Last season, the Thunder won their first seven games en route to winning the NBA championship.
Oklahoma City is the lone remaining unbeaten team in the NBA.
“We don’t talk about (the undefeated start),” reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said on Peacock following the win over the Clippers. “We focus on the day to day, game to game. Every night is an opportunity to go win one.”
Gilgeous-Alexander registered 30 points and 12 assists against the Clippers despite sitting out the fourth quarter. He has scored 30 or more points in seven of Oklahoma City’s eight games.
It didn’t look as if it would be a short night for Gilgeous-Alexander when the score was tied at 78 with under four minutes left in the third quarter.
However, his 18-point third-period output helped Oklahoma City take a 94-86 advantage into the final stanza. Then he took a seat to rest, and the Thunder grew the lead to 25 just before the midway point of the fourth quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander also achieved a milestone by scoring 20 or more points for the 80th consecutive game, the third-best streak in NBA history. He was tied with Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson. The only two longer streaks were both authored by Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain.
“I just put in the work,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of the streak. “I take care of my body, I get enough rest and then repeat. I found a formula that works for me, and I try to hammer it home and do it all the time.”
Backup Isaiah Joe chipped in with season highs of 22 points and six treys in the opener of a four-game road trip. Oklahoma City is 4-0 on the road.
The winning margins in the Thunder’s last three games: 19, 31 and 19 points.
Oklahoma City big man Isaiah Hartenstein said the team decided to reset entering the season.
“Instead of looking at defending a championship, we wanted to go chase it,” Hartenstein said on Peacock.
Portland had a three-game winning streak snapped when it fell 123-115 to the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Monday.
The setback was disappointing because the high-powered Los Angeles backcourt duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves both sat out with minor injuries on the second end of a back-to-back.
“Hopefully not,” Portland interim coach Tiago Splitter said when asked if his players relaxed knowing the Lakers were short-handed. “I was afraid of that before the game. … We were too passive at the start of the game.”
Splitter praised the Lakers.
“Some nights we have to give them credit,” Splitter said. “They played harder than us. They shot the ball better. It was one of those nights that we could not dominate with our defense.”
Deni Avdija poured in a season-best 33 points for the Trail Blazers. He has scored 20 or more points in six of seven games this season, and he had 19 points in the other outing.
Shaedon Sharpe put up a season-high 23 points while playing through a calf injury. He is listed as probable for the Wednesday game.
