The Portland Trail Blazers are the only team to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder so far this season.
The teams will meet for the second time this season Sunday in Oklahoma City.
The Trail Blazers beat the Thunder 121-119 on Nov. 5 in Portland, coming back from an early 22-point deficit to stun the defending champions.
Oklahoma City has reeled off eight consecutive victories since, its second such streak of the season.
Portland has struggled since that win over Oklahoma City, going 2-6 since. However, the Blazers are coming off a 127-123 win on Friday at Golden State that snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Thunder are coming off a 144-122 win in Utah on Friday, a game in which Oklahoma City trailed by 18 in the first quarter before reeling off 22 consecutive points in the third to take control. It was the Thunder’s fifth win this season after trailing by double figures.
“The team stays confident in one another,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “Everybody kind of knows their game, plays their game, works at their game, and it allows us collectively to just stick with it when things aren’t going well, both individually and collectively.”
That’s a mindset that interim Portland coach Tiago Splitter is working to impart to his team.
Just two of the Blazers’ nine losses have come by more than eight points.
“We don’t back down or feel sorry about ourselves,” Splitter said. “You go to the next one, you fight, try to be the best player you can again, the best team we can. … Just try to learn from the experience and get better.”
Oklahoma City is holding opponents to just 12.6 second-chance points. That’s the league’s best mark, while Portland surrenders a league-worst 20.3 second-chance points per game.
The Thunder also are allowing a league-low 38.2 points per game in the paint while the Blazers are giving up 54.1 points per game there.
“It’s a tough team because they pack the paint and they rely on you missing shots and turning over the ball,” Splitter said of Oklahoma City. “It’s hard to run against them.”
Blazers rookie Caleb Love, who missed the initial game with the Thunder, scored a career-high 26 points in the win over the Warriors.
Love recognizes, though, that his primary contributions must come on the other end of the floor.
“My job is to be the energy off the bench, be a menace and disrupt things, and help my guys,” Love said. “On the offensive side, just play with the flow.”
Portland has not won in Oklahoma City since February 2021, dropping eight consecutive games.
In the first meeting, the Thunder were without Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort and Alex Caruso. Though they remain without All-Star Jalen Williams, who has yet to play this season, Oklahoma City is as healthy as it has been all season.
Portland’s Jrue Holiday has missed the last four games with a calf injury.
