Portland Trail Blazers (10-26, 14th in the Western Conference) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (25-11, second in the Western Conference)
Oklahoma City; Thursday, 8 p.m. EST
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Thunder -13.5; over/under is 233
BOTTOM LINE: Oklahoma City will try to keep its four-game home win streak alive when the Thunder face Portland.
The Thunder are 5-2 against Northwest Division teams. Oklahoma City scores 122.3 points while outscoring opponents by 7.5 points per game.
The Trail Blazers are 1-4 against the rest of the division. Portland is 5-15 against opponents over .500.
The 122.3 points per game the Thunder score are 6.1 more points than the Trail Blazers allow (116.2). The Trail Blazers average 12.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 fewer made shots on average than the 13.9 per game the Thunder give up.
The two teams play for the second time this season. The Thunder defeated the Trail Blazers 134-91 in their last matchup on Nov. 20. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 28 points, and Jerami Grant led the Trail Blazers with 14 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gilgeous-Alexander is shooting 55.2% and averaging 31.4 points for the Thunder. Chet Holmgren is averaging 2.2 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Oklahoma City.
Shaedon Sharpe is scoring 16.2 points per game and averaging 5.0 rebounds for the Trail Blazers. Anfernee Simons is averaging 2.8 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games for Portland.
LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 7-3, averaging 126.5 points, 38.8 rebounds, 30.5 assists, 7.2 steals and 6.5 blocks per game while shooting 54.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 119.2 points per game.
Trail Blazers: 3-7, averaging 109.8 points, 43.2 rebounds, 23.3 assists, 7.1 steals and 5.2 blocks per game while shooting 43.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 121.6 points.
INJURIES: Thunder: Davis Bertans: out (illness), Olivier Sarr: out (illness).
Trail Blazers: Moses Brown: out (wrist), Jabari Walker: day to day (knee), Deandre Ayton: day to day (knee), Robert Williams III: out for season (knee).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
