The Oklahoma City Thunder thumped the Portland Trail Blazers 124-95 in NBA action tonight, slamming the door on a 2025 that the Blazers will no doubt be glad to leave behind. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led
the scoring for the Thunder with 30 points, Sidy Sossoko topped the Blazers with 19.
Player of the Game
Cissoko’s 19 points came from 5 threes in 7 tries in 26 minutes. He had some turnovers on illegal screens and looked slightly out of place at times, but he brought a lot of heat to the Blazer cause. So did Robert Williams III, who played 16 minutes and scored 8 points with 8 rebounds, most of which would qualify for highlight clips.
Stat of the Night
The easy answer is turnovers. The Blazers had 24 and the Thunder had 13. That is not a recipe for success against even bad teams. Against teams as explosive as OKC, it produces nightmares like this game.
What We Noticed
OKC’s defense completely throttled the Blazers during most of the game, and the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Sure, the turnovers were all counted (as noted above), but the Thunder made even the most mundane actions extremely difficult. There were numerous examples of Blazers probing for seams in the defense and finding absolutely nothing but Thunder muscle.
A close look at Deni Advija’s night is indicative. He played 32 hotly-contested minutes that produced 17 points on 5-14 shooting with 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 7 turnovers. Not exactly a walk in the park.
Also noticed Yang Hansen in this one. He played 10 minutes, made a three and came up with 5 rebounds.
Up Next
The Blazers will try to get 2026 started on the right note Friday against the Pelicans in New Orleans. Game time is 5:00 p.m., PST.
