Trail Blazers Game Notes: Portland Trail Blazers (21-31) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (16-34)

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS (21-31) AT OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (16-34)

Friday, February 4 • 7:00 p.m. (Pacific) • Moda Center

Portland, Oregon

ALL TIME: Thunder lead, 124-120

PORTLAND HOME: Trail Blazers lead, 78-44

THUNDER HOME: Thunder lead, 80-42

LAST PORTLAND WIN: 133-85, 4/3/21 (Por.)

LAST OKLAHOMA CITY WIN: 98-81, 1/31/22 (OKC)

CURRENT WIN STREAK: One (OKC)

• Friday's matchup is the second of four games this season between the Trail Blazers and Thunder and the first at Moda Center.

• LAST MEETING: Portland fell to Oklahoma City 98-81 on Monday in Oklahoma City. CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 21 points, seven assists and three rebounds while Norman Powell added 17 points, five rebounds and two assists. Lugentz Dort led the Thunder with 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

• In 2022, both teams rank in the Top 10 in three-point attempts per game, Portland sits in sixth (38.4) with Oklahoma City at seventh (38.3). The Trail Blazers hold the edge with a 38.0 shooting percentage while the Thunder shoot 32.3%.

• Portland ranks eighth in the NBA with their starters averaging 78.2 points per game, Oklahoma City ranks 29th with 65.1.

• CJ McCollum is averaging 20.3 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in his last six games against the Thunder, scoring 20-plus points in five of six games.

• Jusuf Nurkić has recorded a double-double in three of his last 10 games against OKC, averaging 16.30 points and 10.3 rebounds.

• Robert Covington set his career high in blocks (six) against Oklahoma City on February 16, 2021. In 11 career games against the Thunder, he is averaging 11.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.50 steals and 1.33 blocks.

• Anfernee Simons has averaged 15.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in his last five games against the Thunder, scoring in double-figures in four of those games.

• Josh Giddey became the second player in NBA history to record a double-double without scoring any points, doing so in December against New Orleans, Robert Covington nearly became the third on Wednesday night as he finished the game with 13 rebounds, nine assists and zero points.

• Lugentz Dort has averaged 11.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in his last five matchups against Portland, scoring 15-plus in back-to-back games.

MAXIMUM NORM: Norman Powell dropped 30 points (10-20 FG, 5-11 3-PT, 5-6 FT), five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block against the Lakers on Feb. 2. Powell is one of five players in the NBA this season to average at least 18.0 points while shooting better than 45.0% from the field and 40.0% from three.

RESPECT THE HUSTLE: Robert Covington is the only player in the NBA this season with 60-plus steals and 50-plus blocks. He averages 1.54 steals per game (21st in NBA) and 1.31 blocks per game (21st), one of only two players to rank in the Top 25 in both categories. His 10 games this season with at least two blocks and two steals are tied for the most in the NBA. On Feb. 2 at the L.A. Lakers, Covington became the second player in franchise history to record a stat line of 13 rebounds, nine assists and four steals, joining Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler (1/28/92 at Golden State).

SIMONS SAYS: Anfernee Simons has had a break out stretch since assuming a starting role. In 2022, Simons is averaging 22.8 points (20th in NBA), 6.4 assists (22nd), 2.9 rebounds and 4.4 three-pointers (2nd) per game while shooting 45.6% from the field, 41.9% from deep and 86.7% at the line.

ANFERNEE FOR THREE: Anfernee Simons made at least four three-pointers in seven consecutive games from 1/19 - 1/30, tied with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum for the longest streak in franchise history and tied for the third-longest streak in the NBA this season. Overall, he has hit five-plus three-pointers in 12 games this season, the most in the NBA for a player 22 years old or younger. His 18 career games with five-plus three-pointers are tied for the 7th-most in NBA history for a player before turning 23.

Game #52 - L.A. Lakers 99, Portland 94 — February 2, 2022, Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

Portland fell to the Lakers 99-94 in Los Angeles ... Norman Powell led all Trail Blazers with 30 points (10-20 FG, 5-11 3-PT, 5-6 FT), two points shy of his season-high, along with five boards, one assist, one steal and one block ... Jusuf Nurkic turned in a double-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block ... Anfernee Simons dropped 19 points (7-18 FG, 3-10 3-PT, 2-3 FT) with three assists, two rebounds and one steal ... CJ McCollum added 15 points (5-17 FG, 4-7 3-PT, 1-2 FT), eight rebounds, three assists and two steals ... Robert Covington fell an assist shy of a rebound-assist double-double, finishing with 13 rebounds, nine assists, four steals, one block and zero points ... Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 30 points (10-18 FG, 10-14 FT), 15 rebounds, three blocks and two assists ... Carmelo Anthony added 24 points and eight boards off the bench.

Game #51 - Oklahoma City 98, Portland 81 — January 31, 2022, Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Portland lost to Oklahoma City 98-81 at the Paycom Center ... CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 21 points (10-17 FG, 1-6 3-PT, 0-0 FT), seven assists and three boards ... Norman Powell added 17 (6-15 FG, 3-8 3-PT, 2-3 FT) with five rebounds, two assists and one block ... Jusuf Nurkic grabbed nine boards along with 14 points, one assist, one steal and one block ... Anfernee Simons tallied eight points, five rebounds and two assists ... Robert Covington recorded three steals, three blocks, three assists, four rebounds and two points ... Dennis Smith Jr. led the bench unit with six points, five rebounds, one assist and one block ... Trendon Watford scored five rebounds, grabbed three boards, dished two assists and snagged one steal ... Luguentz Dort led the Thunder with 18 points, six rebounds and three assists ... Darius Bazley chipped in 15 points off the bench.

Game #50 - Chicago 130, Portland 116 — January 30, 2022, United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Portland fell to Chicago 130-116 at the United Center ... Six on each team scored in double figures, with each squad having three players score 20-plus ... CJ McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 29 points, five rebounds and four assists ... Norman Powell scored 22 points (7-10 FG, 5-6 3-PT, 3-4 FT) with four rebounds and one assist ... Anfernee Simons knocked down five three-pointers, his seventh straight game with four-plus, tying a franchise-record, finishing with 21 points, six assists, three rebounds and one steal ... Robert Covington tallied 11 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals ... Jusuf Nurkic scored 11 points (3-5 FG, 1-1 3-PT, 4-6 FT) with four rebounds ... Trendon Watford scored 10 points with two rebounds, two assists and three blocks ... Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 24 points, 14 boards and three assists ... DeMar Derozan added 23 points and 10 assists while Zach LaVine added 20 points.

Game #49 - Portland 125, Houston 110 — January 28, 2022, Toyota Center, Houston, Texas

Portland defeated Houston 125-110 behind a great shooting night for the Trail Blazers, 46-of-81 (56.8%), the second game in a row the team has shot over 50 percent ... Anfernee Simons led the scoring effort with 27 points (11-17 FG, 5-9 3-PT, 0-0 FT), six assists and three rebounds ... Jusuf Nurkic recorded his 23rd double-double of the season with 25 points (8-11 FG, 9-11 FT), 13 boards, one steal and one block ... CJ McCollum dropped 26 points (10-20 FG, 4-9 3-PT, 2-3 FT) with five assists and three rebounds ... Robert Covington grabbed five boards, three blocks and two steals to go with 13 points and one assist ... Norman Powell tallied 16 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals ... Ben McLemore knocked down 4-of-9 from deep for 12 points ... Christian Wood led the Rockets with 21 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and two blocks ... Garrison Mathews contributed 21 points, and three assists.

Game #48 - Dallas 132, Portland 112 — January 26, 2022, Moda Center, Portland, Oregon

Portland lost to Dallas 132-112 in the second game of a home back-to-back for the Trail Blazers ... Anfernee Simons led Portland with 23 points (9-14 FG, 4-7 3-PT, 1-1 FT), seven assists and two rebounds ... Norman Powell added 19 points (5-17 FG, 2-9 3-PT, 7-12 FT), nine rebounds, one assist and one steal in 36 minutes ... CJ McCollum dropped 20 points (8-16 FG, 4-10 3-PT, 0-1 FT), six assists, four rebounds and a steal ... Jusuf Nurkic snapped his double-double streak but finished with 18 points (7-11 FG, 0-1 3-PT, 4-7 FT), eight rebounds, three assists and one steal ... Tony Snell started for the eighth time this season and finished with two points (1-3 FG, 0-2 3-PT), three rebounds and one assist ... Luka Doncic recorded a triple-double for the Mavericks with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists ... Kristaps Porzingis added 22 points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal.

For the Trail Blazers, CJ Elleby (left hamstring; strain) is probable; Trendon Watford (right ankle; sprain) and Larry Nance Jr. (right knee; inflammation) are questionable; Nassir Little (left shoulder recovery), Damian Lillard (core muscle recovery) and Cody Zeller (right knee recovery) are out for Friday’s game against the Thunder.

For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (right ankle; sprain), Vit Krejci (right ankle; sprain), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (right foot; third metatarsal fracture), Isaiah Roby (right ankle; sprain) and Aaron Wiggins (right ankle; sprain) are out.

Friday’s game can be seen locally on ROOT SPORTS with Kevin Calabro, Lamar Hurd and Brooke Olzendam calling the action. On the radio side, Travis Demers, Michael Holton and Jay Allen will have the call on Rip City Radio 620 AM and on all of the stations of the Deschutes Brewery Trail Blazers Radio Network.

The Trail Blazers and Rose Quarter are requiring all guests ages 12 and up attending any event at the Rose Quarter, including Winterhawks games, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or provide proof of either a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the event or a negative lab-based rapid test taken within 48 hours of the event. At-home tests will not be accepted.

Kids under age 12 can come to events without proof of vaccination or proof of a negative test unless sitting within 15 feet of the court and benches at a Trail Blazers game. All guests must wear a mask at all times while on the Rose Quarter campus.

Click here for more information on Moda Center’s health and safety protocols.