Blazers Cower to Thunder 95-122

SB Nation

The Portland Trail Blazers never had a chance against the Oklahoma City Thunder as they fell 122-95 in the second meeting between the two teams. Portland trailed by 21 points after the first quarter and never truly

threatened that massive lead throughout the rest of the contest.

The Blazers were led by the 21 points of Jerami Grant. Deni Avdija really struggled in the contest, making just 4 of his 16 attempts from the field en route to a season-low 11-point performance.

The Thunder were led by 37 points from reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They also got 20 points from Ajay Mitchell off the bench.

Here are some observations from the blowout.

Over Right Away

Portland led 8-4 a few minutes into the game. However, the game was immediately put out of reach with a 32-8 run from Oklahoma City. After the massive lead gained by that run, the game was never in question. The Thunder were able to keep a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the game.

That massive first quarter difference was built on the back of great shooting from the Thunder and poor shooting from Portland. The turnover battle and rebounding numbers were close to equal, the Blazers just could not buy a basket when they needed one to keep themselves from getting run out.

Guard Play?

Portland’s injury woes caused them to come into a matchup with the best team in the NBA missing the top six guards on their depth chart. Avdija and Sidy Cissoko took the starting guard spots in the contest, but the offensive flow was disrupted from the beginning. Avdija’s impact as a table-setter was limited to just a single assist, and the Blazers ended with just 16 for the entire game, good for the fifth worst mark by a team this season according to Statmuse.

The lack of a true point guard to help run the offense alongside Avdija causes Portland’s offense to be prone to sputtering starts and tough stretches of poor ball movement.

Lid On The Basket

What happens when you take already inefficient team and have them undercut their averages? A loss.

What happens when their opponent is the best team in the league? A BLOWOUT loss.

OK, at some point the law of large numbers implies the Blazers will start making shots this season. However, that has not happened yet. Portland came into this game shooting 45% from the field on the season, good for 25th in the NBA and 32.6% from deep, good for 27th. They underperformed those totals by a lot. Portland made just 37% of their shots from the field and 26% from three in the game.

Jerami Grant

If there was a lone bright spot on offense for the Blazers it was Grant. He had a team-high 21 points on 6/8 shooting from the field and made 3 of his 4 attempts from deep. It was a low volume, high impact night for Grant as he made a few shots at moments that looked like it might help start a run. Obviously that turned out to be just a drop in the bucket.

Grant has found a role as a lower volume scorer in Portland’s offense this season, and this type of shooting performance showcased how impactful he can be in that role. It came at the wrong time, as it did not matter in the slightest in this contest, but the proof of concept is still there.