Thunder aim to keep control of Portland in opener of two games in two nights

The Story

The Oklahoma City Thunder will try to extend their recent edge over the Portland Trail Blazers in the opener of two games in two nights in Portland on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City has won 19 of the past 20 meetings and went 3-1 against Portland last season, including a 121-119 win on Nov. 5, 2025, when the Trail Blazers overcame a 22-point deficit.

This season, the Thunder have won eight of their first 10 games, including four straight. They are beginning a four-game trip with the two contests in Portland, after posting consecutive wins by more than 30 points.

On Friday, Oklahoma City beat the host Memphis Grizzlies 128-97, then followed with a 114-75 home victory over the Washington Wizards on Saturday.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said the team’s defensive intensity helped decide the outcome against Washington, which shot 29.6% and made 7 of 43 from 3-point range. “The intensity on that end of the floor, including the fourth quarter, was really solid,” Daigneault said. “I thought we went out and earned a win. That's a 0-0 game at the beginning and the guys went out and got it.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way against the Wizards with 30 points and nine assists in 29 minutes. Jared McCain added 19 points off the bench on 8-of-10 shooting, and rookie big man Aday Mara had 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

With Chet Holmgren sidelined by a knee injury, Mara started again and also made his first career 3-pointer. He finished with eight rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots, and Daigneault praised Mara’s consistency. “Aday's done a great job. He's been really consistent,” Daigneault said. “He's played impactful minutes every single night, which is hard to do for a rookie player, especially at that position. It's a hard position.”

Portland enters the stretch after a weekend that included back-to-back losses, dropping to defeat after starting 6-2. The Trail Blazers fell 124-118 at the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday, then were beaten 125-103 at home by the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.

Portland trailed by as many as 35 points against San Antonio. The Spurs scored 42 in the second quarter and 45 in the third while taking control, with Victor Wembanyama finishing with 29 points while playing just three quarters.

Trail Blazers coach Micah Nori pushed back on a question about whether Saturday’s loss was “humble pie,” pointing to the team’s focus on continuing to compete. “I don't know what humble pie means from the fact that we've played really good basketball, we were 6-2 and there's not one person on our team that was thinking all of a sudden we're world-beaters and all this,” Nori said. “I think we've been going about our business, taking care of business on the road, and the last thing I would think about this is humble pie.”

Deni Avdija scored a season-low 15 points for Portland on Saturday. “I think that they're a very good team. They're defending Western Conference champions, and they beat us,” Nori said. “But to me, humble pie is when you're walking around thinking that you can beat anybody, and you're not putting the work in and just think that you're gonna show up and win.”