It was more difficult than most imagined, but the Oklahoma City Thunder eventually took care of business against the Portland Trail Blazers, 118-112.
With the tight standings, the Thunder avoided disaster in a pseudo-must-win game against a depleted Trail Blazers. The Thunder have now won eight consecutive games against the Trail Blazers.
Despite the victory, it’s hard to avoid the foul taste that came with this win.
The Trail Blazers played their reserves as they were without Damian Lillard (calf tightness), Jerami Grant (quad contusion), Anfernee Simons (foot soreness) and Jusuf Nurkic (knee soreness).
Even though fans might not be pleased with how close this win was, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault understands that wins don’t always come easy — especially against players fighting for their careers.
“When guys that don’t have regular opportunities — especially when they’ve learned that they’re not getting regular opportunities and then they get an opportunity — the level of motivation is high,” Daigneault said. “That’s the circumstance (the Trail Blazers are) in right now. They got a lot of guys out and these guys are getting opportunities and when that happens, guys are going to step up and they’re going to play really hard.”
Building off of Daigneault’s sentiment, the Trail Blazers forced the Thunder to play a four-quarter game.
A slow start plagued OKC with a 37-25 deficit following the first quarter. The Trail Blazers started the game hot from 3, shooting 6-of-9 in the first quarter. A 43-point second quarter helped the Thunder wash away the slow start.
Alas, the sense of urgency disappeared following halftime.
The Thunder once again played lethargic to start the third quarter as the Trail Blazers used an 11-0 run to retake the lead.
The Thunder eventually escaped with a win as they used a 22-18 fourth-quarter advantage to close out the victory. An 11-1 fourth-quarter Thunder run helped create distance in the scoreboard.
The distance was quickly erased as the Trail Blazers stormed back.
After the Trail Blazers cut OKC’s lead to two points with 2:34 left, the Thunder finished the game on a 7-3 run to cap off the season sweep.
Without their four best players, the Trail Blazers were led by the young duo of Shaedon Sharpe and Nassir Little — who both scored career highs.
Sharpe finished with 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting and went 8-of-11 from the free-throw line. Off the bench, Little finished with 28 points on…
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