OKC Thunder finally get one in Portland

The OKC Thunder finally got a monkey off their backs in Portland, snagging a victory there for the first time since the 2014 season.

The last time the OKC Thunder won in Portland was during Kevin Durant‘s MVP season. If that doesn’t get the message of how long it’s been since the Thunder got a win there, I don’t know what will – that was at least an entire lifetime and a half ago.

Let’s just say we were due.

The Thunder pulled it off tonight, on the backs of a great Paul George performance (or is this just a regular Paul George performance now?), an excellent Russell Westbrook game (let’s hope he gets off the see-saw for the next one), and a tremendous team defensive effort in the second half.

Steven Adams, after a rough first half, came through big in the second. Nerlens Noel was great – the Thunder might not have won without him.

All in all, it was a great team victory, and yet, it still feels like OKC left something on the table. Schröder didn’t have a great game, Abrines is still out, Adams had that bad first half, the defense was iffy, also, in that half, and yet the Thunder beat a very good team, who’s been on a very nice roll, in their own gym.

Man, imagine when this team starts putting together solid, team-wide performances.

The Thunder have yet to reach their ceiling, and yet they’re near the top of the West. Enjoy this if you want, but it’s only going to get better.

Hook up the TiVo: 1:50