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Two Northwest Division rivals meet up on Thursday night when the Portland Trailblazers (10-26, 16-20 ATS) travel to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (24-11, 23-11-1 ATS). Oklahoma City will be on the tail end of a back to back as they play in Miami on Wednesday (Note: This article was published before the results of the Thunder/Heat game). Portland got rocked in their last game, losing in New York 112-84 to the Knicks as 12.5-point road dogs. The Thunder won their previous outing against the Wizards 136-128 on the road, but missed the cover as 11.5-point favorites. This is the second of four matchups between these teams this season, with the Thunder winning by 43 on the road in their first matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 EST from the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
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The Trailblazers seem locked in to the 14th spot in the West, a bad place to be. They are 3.5 games behind the Grizzlies for 13th, and 4.5 games ahead of the Spurs who sit in last. Portland would need to make a trade soon, or show marked improvement from their young stars to make a move up the standings. They have lost four of their last five games, though all the games were on the road as this will be their 6th game of a seven game road trip. In their last game, the Blazers were led by Jerami Grant with 21 points in the loss to the Knicks.
Anfernee Simons is the leading scorer for the Blazers, he missed some games in the beginning of the season with an injury, but has played the last 15 games and is averaging 24.6 PPG. Simons is the top shooter on the team, making 3.4 threes per game on 38.3% shooting, and recently had a 38 point, 11 assist game in the win over the Knicks. Jerami Grant is their sec ond scorer on the team, he averages 21.8 PPG, though he should improve his 3.6 RPG and 2.5 APG given his athleticism and skill. Shaedon Sharpe was recently moved to the bench for the last six games, he is scoring 16.2 PPG and adding 5.0 RPG. The Blazers shifted rookie Scoot Henderson to the starting lineup, he is averaging 12.1 PPG and the team is hoping he can continue to produce more.
In recent games the Blazers have been starting Toumani Camara on the wing with his 7.1 PPG, and Duop Reath has been asked to step in at center when DeAndre Ayton is out with an injury. Malcolm Brogdon is another valuable asset for the team, he comes off the bench and adds 14.9 PPG and a team high 5.2 APG. The Blazers currently rank last in the NBA in offensive efficiency, and 19th in defensive efficiency according to dunksandthrees.com. They play at the 18th fastest tempo in the league.
Injury Report:
Day-to-day: DeAndre Ayton, Jaba ri Walker
Out: Robert Williams III