OKC Thunder proves to be too strong for the Portland Trail Blazers

The Portland Trail Blazers starred at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night. It worked well for two quarters. Portland's physicality and size caused frustration as the Moda Center roared with joy to see its Blazers go toe-to-toe with the undefeated Thunder.

But anger alone isn't enough to overcome the kind of juggernaut rising in Oklahoma. Like a machine, the Thunder accelerated with a crushing 35-9 run over nine minutes between the third and fourth quarters. It turned a two-point game into a laughing 137-114 game.

“Then boom,” Portland head coach Chauncey Billups said of that game-winning run. “The third quarter happened. They hand you over. They score points very quickly. The game is over.”

I use words like “machine” and “juggernaut” because you know it when you see it. The Blazers were bold early in the season, but the execution is disjointed and the shooting quality is simply not there. Before OKC, their last two games at the Moda Center came last week against an uninspired and shaky Pelicans team. Compared to Portland and New Orleans, the difference in the look and feel of the OKC operation is vast.

The Thunder operate with a different level of precision and fluidity on offense. Against Portland, nine different OKC players hit 3s, without starter Chet Holmgren being one of them, who struggled through a bad night. Star role players Luguentz Dort (four steals) and Alex Caruso kept the defense on its toes. MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30 points) and rising forward Jalen Williams (22 points) provided star power and top-notch shooting.

Williams praised the trust between himself and his teammates in his postgame comments. Portland forward Toumani Camara, who scored 13 points, said OKC's “trust” and “connection” were the biggest challenges in Friday's game against the Thunder. These factors helped OKC shoot 53.7% from the field and go 19-49 on three-pointers with 31 assists. After posting the best regular season record in the West last year, OKC is 5-0 to start the season and leads by an average margin of 18.6 points. Many experts predict that the Thunder will give the West and even the Boston Celtics a run for their money in the playoffs this year.

“They make every team look like that,” Billups said. “They are just so good.

If you're looking for moral victories, this isn't the embarrassing 62-point defeat OKC inflicted on the Blazers last January that made national headlines. The Blazers even made OKC look a little vulnerable.

Portland scored an impressive 11:22 with 3 seconds left in the first half, turning the ball over just four times and outscoring OKC 20:18. The performance was punctuated by a 19-8 run in the final three minutes of the second quarter that tied the game at 68-68 at halftime.

“What worked so well in that phase was we made them miss shots, we rebounded and we played really fast,” Billups said. “…We only had four turnovers at halftime against a team like that that wants to speed you up.”

About halfway through the third quarter, all the positive aspects of the first half of the year began to emerge. In the second half, the Blazers shot 4-13 on 3s, turned the ball over 15 times and lost the rebounding battle 27-16 while giving up 12 offensive boards.

A pivotal moment came when Holmgren committed his fourth foul at 10:30 of the third period while the game was still close. He was sent to the bench and OKC was forced to play small. With Deandre Ayton still manning the lineup, one would think the Blazers could take advantage of that size advantage to gain some spacing. Instead, the Thunder began their big run with Holmgren on the bench while the Blazers force-fed Ayton, with results declining. Several of these ball losses in the second half occurred due to erratic passes.

“We went overboard because we had some opportunities that we took advantage of,” Billups said of trying to get the ball down low. “And then we kind of overdid it there. … The guys were trying to make the right play, it was just kind of at the wrong time. It’s really just a lack of experience.”

During the game, Deni Avdija turned the ball over six times. Anfernee Simons shot 1-8 from the field and scored just nine points. No Blazer reached the 20-point threshold. This lack of execution isn't enough against the Thunder.

“When you play against teams that big, you can't give them as many chances,” Billups said. “That’s how they get away from you.”