Keeping its undefeated streak alive, the OKC Thunder defeated the Portland Trailblazers by a final score of 137-14. With the hard-fought road win, OKC improves to 5-0 while Portland drops to 2-3.

OKC’s end result depended 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 adding 30 points on 12-for-18 shooting.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and forward Chet Holmgren helped the Thunder to an early lead, giving the game the appearance of a blowout. That wouldn’t be the case, but the fast start for OKC certainly helped.

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

Portland’s trio brought the game within three points near the end of the quarter, taking the lead thanks to a triple from sophomore guard Scoot Henderson. He didn’t have his best game of the early season, finishing with just eight points on inefficient 3-for-8 shooting. The former second overall pick now comes off the bench for Portland as he looks to cement his role as a starter.

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

Two-point buckets from forward Lu Dort and guard Aaron Wiggins finally gave OKC a cushion and led 87-78 with 4:15 to go. After that point, the Thunder began to make offensive moves to increase its lead. They scored 19 points in the final four minutes of the quarter, pushing the lead to 21 points, putting the game well out of reach for Portland to claw back.

In classic fashion, OKC had to empty its bench in the fourth quarter. Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace became the two leaders on the court and continued to expand the 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 and still gained valuable experience.

Another OKC rookie, forward Dillon Jones, saw the floor against Portland. He has struggled through the Thunder’s first four games and has made the most of it, finishing with five points and two boards on 2-for-3 shooting.

Leading the way for Portland was Grant, who recorded 17 points on 5-for-11 shooting. Off the bench for Portland, French guard Rayan Rupert scored 14 points on 5-for-8 shooting in just 20 minutes of playing time.

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

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