Oklahoma City hopes to continue the new winning streak when it hosts Portland at 7 p.m. Central. Isaiah Hartenstein, Jaylin Williams and Ousmane Dieng are out for this contest, while Portland will be missing a ton of important players. The list includes Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, Jerami Grant and potentially Kris Murray. 

Keep reading for two key matchups that will largely determine the victor. 

Portland’s numerous backcourt injuries have forced it to mostly play defensive-oriented wings instead of guards. As a result, the team features plenty of size and averages the second-most drives per game across the association. Protecting the paint and funneling shots to shaky three-point shooters will be crucial for the Thunder. 

Oklahoma City’s defense typically controls the defensive glass and arguably boasts the best interior defense in the NBA when healthy. However, injuries to Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams significantly decrease its ability to deter rim attempts and grab rebounds in this matchup. 

Chet Holmgren, Branden Carlson, Kenrich Williams and Jalen Williams must be extremely physical and committed to boxing out, especially when Donovan Clingan is on the court. The 7-foot-2 goliath ranks seventh across the NBA among qualified players in offensive rebounds per 75 possessions. Yang Hansen is also a threat to dominate around the basket. He’s a 7-foot-1 rookie with superb touch. 

Plus, Clingan and Hansen are sturdy and not built like Holmgren or Carlson. This significant weight advantage makes the task far more difficult for Oklahoma City’s bigs.  

There are pros to Portland’s jumbo lineups, but the lack of playmaking guards means the offense struggles to handle immense ball-pressure and consistently make the right reads. Its wings and bigs are simply being thrust into on-ball roles with too much responsibility. Due to this situation, Portland’s offense records a turnover on 16.7% of its possessions. That’s the highest turnover percentage in the NBA. 

Oklahoma City’s defense excels at applying pressure and fomenting chaos. It unsurprisingly leads the league in forced turnover percentage, which leads to a plethora of fast-break points. 

If Cason Wallace, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso and Jalen Williams can strip ball-handlers and jump passing lanes, then the Thunder should generate easy points and subsequently give itself room for a poor shooting night. This is important because Oklahoma City has logged some terrible efficiency nights over the past few weeks, especially from beyond the arc. Caruso and Luguentz Dort, in particular, have been highly inconsistent.