• 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.