The OKC Thunder kick starts road trip with a win versus the Portland Trail Blazers that pushed them onto the playoff ladder. Player grades offer the details.
Last spring the Damian Lillard infamously waved goodbye to the OKC Thunder sending the team with two superstars home early and went on to play in the Western Conference finals.
That series defeat and wave from Dame will always be associated with the ensuing events of the offseason as the Thunder would forever be changed by virtue of that early oust. Then in their first meeting this season the Blazers handed the Thunder one of their typical clutch time losses moving OKC to 1-4 on the season.
Flash forward from that date and it’s been a reversal of fortunes for the two squads which fittingly resulted in the Thunder climbing onto the playoff ladder at game end almost to punctuate the fact.
Portland record since that October 30 match is 6-12 while the Thunder are 9-8 and have seemingly figured out the clutch time issues that held them back early.
Neither team came out on fire and almost played tentatively early in the match as the first frame ended with OKC holding a single point advantage (21-20). OKC upped the intensity on both sides in the second quarter building upon their lead with a 34-27 effort giving them 55-47 lead at the half.
Typically the third quarter is problematic for OKC, and although the Blazers won the frame the Thunder stayed close enough with 26 points to maintain a lead.
Although there were moments of the Blazers trying to shake free of the shackles preventing them from scoring the Thunder remained focused and hit timely buckets whenever Lillard and company tried to eliminate the deficit. Specifically, the new face of the franchise, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander proved unstoppable in the final frame ensuring this game would not end with another wave goodbye.
With that, let’s look at the player grades from the OKC Thunder victory.