Thunder @ Portland Trailblazers preview (Game 12 of 82)

  • Oklahoma City Thunder (8-3, 6th in the West) @ Portland Trailblazers (7-3, 8th in the West)
  • When: Wednesday, 11 November 2026 at 9:00pm CST
  • Where: Moda Center in Portland, OR
  • TV: Thunder+/KSBI
  • Offensive Rating: POR: 118.5 (4th) / OKC: 112.7 (17th)
  • Defensive Rating: POR: 111.5 (12th) / OKC: 107.4 (6th)
  • Net Rating: POR: 7.0 (9th) / OKC: 5.3 (11th)

The Tip-Off

There are going to be nights like last night this season. The Oklahoma City Thunder played a good Portland team on the road and were able to hold on for a half. But if you allow a good team to get it going, and you aren’t doing the things to keep up with their pace, they are going to eventually get run out of the gym, which is what happened last night. The margin of error OKC plays with now is razor thin with the lack of depth and the injuries to key players. It’s going to be a season-long seesaw between “Wow, can you believe this team!” and “Ufff, can you believe this team?”.

Looking Back

Portland beat OKC 123-103 yesterday, in a game that was tied at 59 at halftime. Portland used a hot third quarter to take over the game and never looked back.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC +2.5
  • O/U: 224.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Chet Holmgren – OUT (knee)
  • Ajay Mitchell – OUT (ankle)
  • Thomas Sorber – OUT (knee)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (G-League Assignment)
  • Cason Wallace – OUT (shoulder)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (ankle)
  • Jaylin Williams – OUT (back)

POR

  • Vit Krejci – OUT (ankle)
  • Ja Morant – OUT (hamstring)
  • Shaedon Sharpe – OUT (knee)
  • Chris Youngblood – OUT (foot)

Three Big Things

  1. Bennett Stirtz – Among the negatives in the game last night, one of the positives was the play of Bennett Stirtz. In his 18 minutes, Stirtz scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting from the field and 2-3 shooting from deep. He was aggressive offensively and held his own on the defensive end. In a 20-point loss, he was the only rotational piece with a plus in the raw plus/minus column (+3). His ability to play point guard and provide SGA with a shooter off-ball may garner Stirtz his first start of the season with Ajay Mitchell being out with a bum ankle.
  2. Gotta get them up – Oklahoma City attempted 22 three-pointers last night. Portland made 19 3-pointers. That math isn’t going to hold up in today’s NBA. While OKC has never been a prolific 3-point shot attempting team, not taking them stunts their offense and tells the defense to go ahead and stay in the paint. Even the threat of taking 3’s causes the defense to come out a little further from the basket, which opens up driving lanes. Gotta hoist them to give yourself a chance.
  3. Aday Mara – The other rookie on OKC team is starting to show the aggressive “a-hole” side of him and totally here for it. There were times during the summer where the moniker of “Big Goof” was on display (and it wasn’t for positive reasons). But now, Mara is showing a different side of himself. One that is more in line with him being a 7’3″ behemoth out there that can eventually start to intimidate opponents with his play. As the great Bill Walton would say on calls, “Throw it down, big man. Throw it down!”

Thunder @ Portland Trailblazers preview (Game 11 of 82)

  • Oklahoma City Thunder (8-2, 3rd in the West) @ Portland Trailblazers (6-3, 8th in the West)
  • When: Tuesday, 10 November 2026 at 10:00pm CST
  • Where: Moda Center in Portland, OR
  • TV: NBC/Thunder+/KSBI
  • Offensive Rating: POR: 117.6 (6th) / OKC: 113.4 (15th)
  • Defensive Rating: POR: 112.2 (12th) / OKC: 105.5 (2nd)
  • Net Rating: POR: 5.5 (11th) / OKC: 8.0 (6th)

The Set-Up

I know it’s early, but Mark Daigneault has to be the front runner for Coach of the Year. While Steve Kerr has led Golden State to an unexpected hot start and Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo has, what was expected to be a lottery team in the playoff mix in the West, the litany of circumstances that befell Oklahoma City on October 25th, would’ve made a regression to the mean (or lower) expected. OKC lost their literal defensive shell all in one night. Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, and Chet Holmgren. Three (current or former) members of the NBA’s All-Defense Team. And yet, 10 games into this season, OKC sits in 2nd in Defensive Rating, just 0.4 from first place. Not only are we talking Coach of the Year, but if this continues (or even stays top-5), I’d be willing to say that Daigneault is the greatest defensive-minded coach in the history of the NBA.

Looking Back

Portland was OKC’s “1” in their 24-1 start last season. In fact, since the beginning of the 2021-22 season, OKC has won 19 of 20 games against Portland. It’s been a dominant run against a division rival over the past half decade.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -2.5
  • O/U: 224.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Chet Holmgren – OUT (knee)
  • Thomas Sorber – OUT (knee)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (G-League Assignment)
  • Cason Wallace – OUT (shoulder)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (ankle)
  • Jaylin Williams – OUT (back)

POR

  • Ja Morant – OUT (hamstring)
  • Shaedon Sharpe – OUT (knee)
  • Vit Krejci – OUT (ankle)

Three Big Things

  1. Creating Turnovers – Offensively, Portland is designed to give OKC fits. Their ability to leverage their 3-point shooting to get drives to the basket and easy looks fuels their offense (119.3 points per game – 3rd in the league) and their free throw shooting (31.7 free throw attempts per game – 2nd in the league). The fatal flaw in all that driving and dishing is their turnovers. They average nearly 17 turnovers per game, which is 24th in the league. If OKC can take advantage of this, it could help them whether a normal shooting night from the Trailblazers.
  2. Jared McCain – It’s no coincidence that OKC’s dominance these last 2 games has coincided with McCain finding his stroke again. I’ve always said that if OKC is playing the level of defense they are known for and they are also hitting their 3-point shots at a high clip, there’s no team in the NBA that can beat them. In the last two games, McCain has averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 2.5 steals on 71% shooting from the field and 42% shooting from deep. While McCain is known as a 3-point threat, he has expanded his game with drives to the basket and bump middies that have expanded his offensive repertoire.
  3. Deni Avdija – This is where you miss the size of, not just Jalen Williams, but also Lu Dort. But it may be a good opportunity for two-way player Micah Peavy, who is two inches taller than Alex Caruso and 10 pounds heavier than Kenrich Williams. An opponent like Avdija can give Daigneault some data points for how Peavy may defend similarly-built players like Luka Doncic, Julius Randle, and Aaron Gordon.