• Oklahoma City Thunder (8-0) at Portland Trailblazers (4-3)
• When: Wednesday, 05 November 2025 at 9:00pm CST
• Where: Moda Center, Portland, OR
• TV: FDSN-OK
• Offensive Rating: POR: 115.2 (15th) / OKC: 118.5 (4th)
• Defensive Rating: POR: 111.7 (9th) / OKC: 104.8 (1st)
• Net Rating: POR: 3.5 (9th) / OKC: 13.7 (1st)

The Set-Up

We’ll just call it “The Wave”. The thing that jump-started what you currently see happening now in the NBA. When Damian Lillard hit the game-winner in Game 6 of the first round of the 2019 NBA playoffs, it put into motion the events that eventually netted the Thunder the 2025 NBA championship. And, in my humble opinion, it had to happen that way. If Dame misses that shot and the Thunder eventually win the series, there is no impetus for a rebuild, even though that roster had grown moldier than month-long bread. That shot, pushed the Thunder into the deep end of the “rebuild” pool. It had to happen that way. It had to be embarrassing. It had to hurt our pride. But it allowed us to reset and refocus with the hope of something better. And, it actually worked.

This is the first of four meetings this season between these two Northwest Division rivals. The Thunder swept the season series last season and have swept the season series for the last four seasons. That’s 16 wins in a row against one team over a four season span.

Betting Info

• Line: OKC -4
• O/U: 231.5

Injury Report

OKC

• Alex Caruso – OUT (rest)
• Lu Dort – OUT (shoulder contusion)
• Chet Holmgren – OUT (back)
• Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
• Nikola Topic – OUT (cancer treatment)
• Jalen Williams – OUT (wrist)
• Kenrich Williams – OUT (knee)

POR

• Scoot Henderson – OUT (hamstring)
• Damian Lillard – OUT (Achilles)
• Shaedon Sharpe – Probable (calf)
• Matisse Thybulle – OUT (thumb)
• Blake Wesley – OUT (foot)

Three Big Things

1. Little Brother – Looking at how Portland plays is a little like looking at old home videos of the Thunder as they progressed through the rebuild. Portland leads the lead in steals, are third in percentage of points off the fast break, and are second in the league (only behind OKC) in percentage of points off turnovers. The defensive ethos for both teams is very similar – use length to create havoc in the passing lanes, be aggressive, and cause the opponent to turn the ball over as much as possible to turn defense into offense.
2. Isaiah Joe – Joe has come out in his first three games with a flame thrower. Through three games, he has 14 made threes, which is the most in Thunder history for a player’s first three games of the season. But it’s not just the shooting. It’s the type of shots he is hitting. Some of these threes are at least a coupe of feet behind the 3-point line. A lot of them are quick, no hesitation, no thought shots. Though Joe was solid in the playoffs, his effectiveness (and his threat of hitting 3’s) was muted when the lights got the brightest. This, in turn, caused his minutes to go down. But if that experience created the monster we see now, it was well worth it.
3. Belgium – Shoutout to Belgium tonight. Their only two active NBA representatives play tonight. Ajay Mitchell and Toumani Camara are both starting to make their marks in the NBA. The small European nation, which is surrounded by basketball powerhouses like France and Germany, may have a small presence on the basketball stage currently. But if players like Mitchell and Camara are a sign of things to come, we’ll be seeing a lot more Belgian flags on rosters in the future.