Portland's injury story is just as real. Ja Morant is out with a left hamstring strain, Shaedon Sharpe is recovering from right meniscus surgery and Vit Krejci has a fractured left ankle. That's a lot of backcourt gone, and it leaves Damian Lillard carrying the scoring. He had 22 points on 5-of-13 shooting in the loss to the Lakers. He went 8-for-8 at the line, but the shot hasn't fully followed.
OKC's 4-game win streak is mostly the defense. Cleveland got swept in a home-and-home, Memphis lost by 31 and Washington scored 75. The last loss came in Houston, 119-98, so the Thunder aren't untouchable on the road. Still, the margins in this run say a thin rotation hasn't slowed down how hard they defend.
Portland is going the other way. The Blazers started 6-1, then lost 124-118 to the Lakers and got run 125-103 by Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs, who scored 29, and they're 6-3 now. The home crowd helps. Facing the league's stingiest defense with 3 rotation guards out does not.
Tip is 7:00 PM PT at the Moda Center. If Portland's guards can't make OKC's defense work, this turns into another night where SGA gets his 30 and the Thunder grind it out. If Lillard gets hot and the Blazers beat a big-less Thunder frontcourt on the glass, Portland has the pieces to end the streak.
