By beating the Thunder, the Blazers showed their new “character”
Portland may have its benchmark matchup. Trailing by 22 points in the first quarter to Oklahoma City (41-21), Blazers pulled off a spectacular comeback to win 121-118 at the Moda Center.
“Before, in these moments, we would find ourselves at -40 and it would be a long garbage match”, he smiles Danny Avdia. “But the mentality we have now, the aggressiveness, the character… it shows who we are. We have a lot of character in this team.”
Despite Danny Avdia’s 11 consecutive missed shots, Tumani Kamara’s turnovers and the Thunder’s brash skill, the Blazers refused to give up. “We’re not done”summary Donovan Clingan. “We knew it was a game to win. Possession after possession, we defended to do what we had to do.”
The energy of the group made all the difference: Danny Avdia was finding solutions by drawing fouls, Jrue Holiday unleashed a flurry of game-winning shots, and Duop Reat planted four long-range bunters out of nowhere. And at the end of the third quarter, Portland was only five points behind (86-81).
It was a little less than seven minutes to the end Jrue Holiday finally giving his team their first lead (97-96) before getting defensive and making a three-pointer (100-96). “No matter who plays, we give 100%”explains the veteran. “With our energy, nobody will have an easy night against us.”
Nuggets and Thunder scalps
As the boss in “money time”, Danny Avdia sets the tone again: 11 points in the last quarter, including a +5 layup (109-104) and a 3-pointer (115-109).
And despite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 35 points, the Blazers held on. Jrue Holiday is on the line with 6.5 seconds left (121-118). SGA misses the tying shot, Isaiah Joe gets two shots and intentionally misses the second to hope for a miracle. But the jump ended up in the hands of Robert Williams III.
The fashion center can explode as the confetti falls. “It’s a resilient group that never gives up.” underlines Thiago Splitter. “They proved that again tonight. I’m still disappointed with the loss to the Lakers, because we proved once again that we can be competitive. So I have to play them that way every night.”
After the success against Denver, this victory against Oklahoma City seems to confirm the reconstruction of the Blazers, while with five wins in eight games, Tiago Splitter’s team is in 6th place in the West.
2025-11-06 10:23:00
