Looking to maintain their unbeaten streak, the OKC Thunder defeated the Portland Trailblazers by a final score of 137-14. With this hard-fought road win, OKC improved to 5-0 while Portland dropped to 2-3.

OKC’s final result hinged on the performances of forward Jalen Williams and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, with Williams finishing with 22 points on 8-for-12 shooting and Gilgeous-Alexander with 30 points on 12-for-18 shooting.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and forward Chet Holmgren helped the Thunder take an early lead, making the game look like a blowout. It wouldn’t, but OKC’s fast start certainly helped.

The first quarter went as best it could for OKC, leading 37-24 at the end. With 9:32 left in the second quarter, OKC looked like it was going to run away, leading 44-29. Gilgeous-Alexander and OKC’s bench depth scored effectively on offense and limited what Portland could do with its defense. The Trailblazers flipped a switch midway through the quarter, led by center DeAndre Ayton, forward Deni Avdija and guard Anfernee Simons.

The Portland trio brought the game within three points late in the quarter and took the lead on a triple from sophomore guard Scoot Henderson. He didn’t have his best game early in the season, finishing with just eight points on an inefficient 3-for-8 shooting. The former second overall pick is now leaving Portland’s bench, looking to return to his starting role .

The two battled for most of the third quarter and OKC continued to try to pull away but couldn’t. OKC’s defense, which was arguably the best in the NBA to start the new season, completely struggled in this third quarter to stop Portland’s scorers. The Trailblazers are loaded with talented isolation scorers and made that known in the third quarter, thanks to players like Simons and forward Jerami Grant.

Two-point buckets from forward Lu Dort and guard Aaron Wiggins finally gave OKC an edge, leading 87-78 with 4:15 to play. After this point, the Thunder began to turn to offense in order to increase their lead. They scored 19 points in the final four minutes of the quarter to extend their lead to 21 points, putting the game out of reach for Portland to recover.

In classic fashion, OKC was able to empty its bench in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace became the two leaders on the court and continued to expand their lead, with help from rookie guard Ajay Mitchell and forward Ousmane Dieng.

Recent signee Malevy Leons, the former Bradley Brave, got his first action of the regular season late in the quarter. He finished with just one rebound and one assist in two minutes, gaining valuable experience.

Another OKC recruit, forward Dillon Jones, played against Portland. He struggled to find success in the Thunder’s first four games and made the most of it, finishing with five points and two rebounds on 2-for-3 shooting.

Grant led the way for Portland, recording 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting. On Portland’s bench, French guard Rayan Rupert scored 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting in just 20 minutes of play.

After improving to 5-0 on the season, OKC will play at 9:30 p.m. PDT on Saturday, November 2 at the Intuit Dome against the Los Angeles Clippers.

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