Blazers Beat Thunder 123-103 Behind Lillard 25 and a 38-Point Third Quarter

The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 123-103 on Tuesday night at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon. Damian Lillard led Portland with 25 points, and the game turned in the third quarter after the teams went to halftime tied 59-59.

A tie game at halftime

Oklahoma City led the first quarter 27-26. Portland edged the second quarter 33-32, and the half ended level. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept the Thunder close all night and finished with 26 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. He shot 8 of 22 from the field, missed all four of his three-point tries, and made 10 of 11 free throws in 29 minutes.

Portland took the game away in the third quarter. The Trail Blazers outscored Oklahoma City 38-21 in the period and led 97-80 after three quarters. Lillard and Deni Avdija combined to score 22 of those 38 points. Portland closed the game with a 26-23 fourth quarter.

Lillard closes the third quarter

Lillard scored 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 5-of-5 free throws, with 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 4 three-pointers in about 23 to 24 minutes. He scored 13 points in the third quarter alone, including a 30-foot three-pointer in the closing seconds of the period.

Trail Blazers fan Ben Hider, wearing a T-shirt printed with Paul George's 2019 postgame line, joked to his father after the shot: "That's a bad shot."

Avdija added 24 points, 6 rebounds and 8 assists for Portland. He shot 8 of 15 from the field, made 2 three-pointers, and went 6 of 8 at the line. Sidy Cissoko scored 17 points with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 three-pointers.

Short-handed Thunder

Jared McCain scored 21 points for Oklahoma City, with 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 three-pointers on 6-of-12 shooting. Rookie Aday Mara, who is 7-foot-3, had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 1 block in 26 minutes. Mara entered Tuesday averaging 1.9 blocks in 19.7 minutes per game, fifth in the NBA.

Oklahoma City played without Cason Wallace, who is recovering from left shoulder surgery, and Jalen Williams, who is recovering from left ankle surgery. Both players will be re-evaluated before the end of the regular season.

Nique Clifford made his Oklahoma City debut in the game. The Thunder acquired Clifford from Sacramento on Saturday for two second-round picks, the Utah pick in 2028 and the Minnesota pick in 2030. He scored 4 points with 4 rebounds and 1 assist, shooting 2 of 4 in 19 minutes. Before the debut, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said of Clifford: "The first thing I like is not about his game. It's him as a guy. He's a really, really good guy. He's a team guy. He wants to be a part of team basketball. He wants to compete. He's willing to earn what he gets."

Turnovers and what comes next

Portland committed 9 turnovers, against 12 for Oklahoma City. Portland entered Tuesday ranked 24th in the NBA at 16.9 turnovers per game.

The win moved Portland to 7-3. Oklahoma City fell to 8-3, and the loss ended the Thunder's four-game winning streak. Lillard leads the franchise in career points with 19,551 and in made three-pointers with 2,412. The teams play again on Wednesday at Moda Center, with tipoff at 9 p.m. CST.