The Portland Trail Blazers will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second game of their back-to-back on Wednesday at 7:00 PM Pacific at Moda Center. The Blazers snapped their two-game losing streak in game one, defeating the Thunder 123-103. Damian Lillard poured in 25, Deni Avdija added 24, and Donovan Clingan pulled down 13 rebounds. Avdija also contributed eight assists. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scores with 26 in a losing effort.
What You Need To Know
Portland Trail Blazers (7-3) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
(8-3) – Wednesday, November 11th – 7:00pm Pacific
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options for the Rip City Television Network.
How to watch via streaming: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else
How to listen: Trail Blazers Audio Network
Trail Blazers Injuries: Vit Krejci, Ja Morant, Shaedon Sharpe (out)
Thunder Injuries: Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace, Thomas Sorber, Nikola Topic, Jaylin Williams (Out).
What To Watch For
Oklahoma City’s best shot: Not too many people outside of Portland were picking the Blazers to win the first game. Winning two in a row against the Thunder? Even the most optimistic Blazers fan probably has their doubts. That’s no disrespect on what the Blazers have accomplished, it’s just a recognition of the challenge that even an injured Thunder team presents. Oklahoma City has their eyes on the top seed in the West, and two losses in a row to the Blazers is not a part of the plan. Expect the Thunder to show up on Wednesday better prepared and hungrier.
Let it fly: The Blazers absolutely dominated the three-point arc in terms of offence on Tuesday. They scored 33 more points than the Thunder from beyond the arc, a difference that’s nearly impossible to make up elsewhere on the court. It’s hard to imagine Portland not trying to run it back again in game two.
Deni, Dame and depth: Avdija and Lillard were the clear leaders in game one on the offensive end, scoring 24 and 25 respectively. They didn’t do it alone though. Ten players got in the game while it was still undecided, and every one of them scored. Thunder injuries of course are a big factor, but the Blazers have more depth than the Thunder at the moment. Good games from Avdija and Lillard along with contributions from the rest of the team is a winning formula Portland will try to replicate in game two.
What Others Are Saying
Zach Kram of ESPN gives the Thunder a “B” grade for their trade for Nique Clifford from the Sacramento Kings.
Clifford might not end up playing any role for Oklahoma City come playoff time, but the team simply needs bodies in the meantime, and Clifford should be useful on both ends in a regular-season capacity. And who knows? Place him in the Thunder’s excellent development system and he might blow past any theoretical ceiling while offering inexpensive production for the next few years.
With all of the Thunder injuries, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs the ball in his hands, right? Maybe not writes Mark Nilon of Thunderous Intentions.
In a rather unfortunate turn of events, Oklahoma City has been ravaged by injuries here in 2026-27, most notably affecting the two aforementioned ballers, which, as a result, has left SGA with less star power surrounding him.
Excitingly enough, however, this doesn’t seem to have stopped the Thunder from allowing Shai to frequently roam without the rock in his hands, as Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain, and even rookie Bennett Stirtz at times have been seen taking on lead handler duties quite often here in the infancy stages of the year.
The view from Locked On Thunder Hit before game one. Maybe the host wants a re-do?
