The Portland Trail Blazers erased a 22-point deficit to hand the Oklahoma City Thunder their first loss of the season on Wednesday night at the Moda Center.
Deni Avdija overcame a slow start to lead the Blazers with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. Veteran guard Jrue Holiday made six 3-pointers en route to 22 points, including a pair of clutch free throws with :07 seconds to play.
Oklahoma City had multiple chances to even the score in the final seconds, but Isaiah Joe missed a potential game-tying
3-pointer. After an offensive rebound by Cason Wallace, Joe was fouled on a deep two-point shot attempt. He made the first free throw, then missed the second intentionally, but the Blazers swatted away the rebound and held on for a 121-119 win.
The win snapped Portland’s 16-game losing streak to Oklahoma City and improved the team’s record to 5-3 on the season.
Here are a few key observations from the game.
Resilience
Avdija missed his first 11 field goal attempts on Wednesday night, but found a way to impact the game by getting to the free throw line. He made 15-16 free throws on the night, and his offense eventually broke through in the fourth quarter. He scored 11 points in the final frame to go along with three assists.
While Avdija’s near triple-double led the way, the Blazers demonstrated resilience up and down the entire roster Wednesday night. The season is only about two weeks old, but the team has already passed several tough tests. They’ve stuck together through one of the wildest coaching changes in sports history, and closed out tight games against some of the NBA’s best teams in Denver and now Oklahoma City.
A Familiar First Half Story
Early on, it looked like the Blazers were going to pick up where they left off in their disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night.
Portland dug itself a deep hole to start the game. Coach Tiago Splitter needed an early timeout after the Thunder jumped out to a 9-1 lead, but it didn’t do much to slow the defending champions down. They forced seven Portland turnovers and made six of their 10 3-pointers to take a 41-21 lead after the first quarter.
It was a familiar story for the Blazers, who have not been a good first quarter team. The Blazers have been outscored in first quarters so far this season, but have the best second quarter point differential in the league. Against Oklahoma City, they got themselves back into the game with strong second quarter shooting from Duop Reath and Holiday. The pair combined for seven three-pointers in the quarter, and the Blazers trailed by just eight at halftime.
Double-Big Lineup
The Blazers have had success with small-ball lineups through the early part of the season, but against the Thunder, much of their second quarter success happened with two centers on the floor.
Portland outscored Oklahoma City 15-7 while Donovan Clingan and Reath shared the floor in the second quarter, with Reath knocking down a pair of 3s during that stretch. In the second half, Coach Splitter chose Reath for the backup center minutes rather than Robert Williams III.
With the team’s shooting struggles, it will be interesting to see if Reath continues to earn more minutes for his ability to stretch the defense.
Taking Advantage
For the second consecutive game, the Blazers faced a short-handed team playing on the second night of a back-to-back. This time, they took advantage.
Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was productive as usual, but aggressive Portland defense limited him to just 10-26 shooting. He finished with 35 points to lead all scorers, but wasn’t able to take over down the stretch.
The Thunder were without much of his supporting cast, as Jalen Williams, Alex Caruso, Luguentz Dort, and Chet Holmgren, four of the team’s top defenders, all missed the game with injuries. Like the Blazers, Oklahoma City relies on creating turnovers and wearing down opponents. But with so many of their key rotation players sidelined, they didn’t have enough to keep up with the Blazers Wednesday night.
Up Next
The Blazers begin a five-game road trip against the Miami Heat on Saturday in South Florida. Tip-off is at 4 p.m. Pacific.
