* The last time the Oklahoma City went to Portland, it resulted in the team's one loss of the season. The Blazers seemed dead set on doing it again, but OKC pulled this one out, in a hard fought, close win to make it two wins against Portland this season.
* You see, the Thunder have the reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and, _checks notes_, Ajay Mitchell to close things out.
* Shai was sitting on 16 points headed in the fourth quarter, but the MVP delivered yet again in the clutch. SGA was near perfect in the fourth, going 4-5, with 10 points. For the game, SGA scored 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 10-of-12 FTs, plus 4 boards, and 5 dimes.
* I, personally, was wondering what the return of Aaron Wiggins (more on him later) and Jalen Williams would mean for Mitchell. Apparently, the returns have had zero negative impact on Mitchell's minutes or impact. Ajay was massive in the final frame, scoring 11 points alone in that fourth quarter. Ajay's final line was 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, a perfect 6-of-6 at the line, plus 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 29 minutes off the bench.
* The Thunder is slowly getting healthier (two steps forward, one step back with Hartenstein's injury) and welcomed Aaron Wiggins back. Wigs was thrust right back into his usual role, getting 20 minutes. He ended up scoring 5 points and adding 4 assists.
* J-Dub is still finding his shot, but the man had a massive impact on this one. His final stat line was: 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks in 34 minutes. Yes, 3 blocks. His defensive impact cannot be ignored.
* Chet answered a physical Blazers front line with 19 points (9-of-15 FG), 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks in 30 minutes. Between him and the rest of the back line, OKC swatted 9 shots and held Portland to 39% from the field while still winning points in the paint 56-36.
* The story on the other side was Deni Avdija going absolutely nuclear: 31 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists on 6-of-14 shooting and a wild 19-of-23 from the line (more on that later, too).
* Isaiah Joe is instant offensive–you don't even need to microwave him. He put in 15 points in just 15 minutes while shooting 3-6 from three. The weapons on this team, man.
* Kenrich Williams had his best game since his return: 13 minutes, 8 points, 3-of-4 from the field, 2-of-2 from three, and a +5. Kenny Hustle's biggest impact also came in the fourth as OKC pulled away.
* The rebounding battle finished dead even at 49-49, but Porland was gobbling up offensive rebounds. The Blazers had 13 on the night (without Donovan Clingan!). The Thunder is clearly missing Isaiah Hartenstein's interior presence.
* While the turnover battle was close (OKC had 12, Portland had 14), OKC is just better at converting those turnovers into points. The Thunder had a +10 edge in points off turnovers, which seemed pretty important considering the final score was an 8-point margin.
* This thing was a slugfest: 15 lead changes, 22 ties, and the Blazers actually led at various points in the second half before OKC dropped a 38-28 haymaker in the fourth. Yeah, I guess OKC was adjusting to the time change and their regularly scheduled third quarter flurry happened in the fourth last night
* OKC has won 12 straight and is on a 78-win pace.
On a night when Shai was aggressive and getting to the line (10-of-12), it was Deni Avdija who went to the charity stripe 23 (!!!) times. That's the second most of any player this season (SGA had 26 against Indiana).
Part of me gives it up to Avdija, who had a monster line of 31 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists. Part of me is like, Deni Avdija went to the line 23 times?!
Honestly, I don't have a real takeaway or thoughts. I'm just glad the game was an early start, and I wasn't up past my bedtime watching Deni shoot a bunch of free throws.