Nineteen losses in twenty, then two wins in two nights
Context first, because it is what makes this result land. Before Tuesday, the Portland Trail Blazers had lost 19 of their previous 20 meetings with the Oklahoma City Thunder. By the end of Wednesday night they had won two in a row against them at home, following Tuesday’s 123-103 result with a 118-108 victory a few hours ago.
Deni Avdija was the one holding the pen. He finished with 28 points, six assists and four steals, hit four threes, and did most of his damage when the game was there to be taken. With the score tied late, he and Sidy Cissoko each made two free throws for a 103-99 lead with 3:10 left. After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander split a trip to the line, Avdija buried a three for 106-100.
He also produced the finishing touch: a steal and a breakaway dunk for 116-106 with 36.5 seconds to go.
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A deep Portland scoring sheet
The support cast carried real weight. Jrue Holiday made five threes on his way to 19 points, Cissoko also scored 19 with four triples, Damian Lillard added 18, Toumani Camara 14 and Robert Williams III 10. Donovan Clingan pulled down 12 rebounds. Portland shot 45.7% from the field, went 19 of 49 from deep and was close to perfect at the line, 25 of 26 overall and 14 of 14 in the fourth quarter.
That free-throw number matters. Oklahoma City had seized momentum early in the final period, with Nique Clifford’s tying three and a Kenrich Williams bucket sparking a 9-0 run that put the Thunder up 92-88 with 9:58 remaining. Portland answered without panicking.
SGA’s 31 not enough
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 and Isaiah Hartenstein posted a season-best 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting, plus 11 rebounds and six assists. Alex Caruso had 14, while Aday Mara and Kenrich Williams added 11 each. Jared McCain struggled, scoring 10 on 3-of-14 shooting, and the Thunder made just 11 of 36 from three, 42% from the field overall.
Portland led 56-50 at the break and 88-85 after three. Over two nights, the Blazers have outscored the Thunder by 30 points.
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