Thunder beat Trail Blazers by 62 for largest win in franchise history

OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Josh Giddey had a triple-double and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 139-77 on Thursday night, a 62-point victory that tied for fifth greatest rout in history. NBA History.

“It was almost like a perfect storm, to be honest with you,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups said. “Nothing really worked for us.”

Oklahoma City shattered its previous winning margin record of 45 points, set twice during the 2012-13 season. The Thunder found themselves tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the best record in the Western Conference with a 26-11 record.

On December 2, 2021, the Thunder were on the wrong side of the NBA's biggest blowout, losing by 73 to Memphis. Current Oklahoma City players Luguentz Dort and Tre Mann were playing for the Thunder that day, while Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey sat out. Gilgeous-Alexander remembers feeling embarrassed for his teammates.

“After that game, we addressed it and we just made a promise to ourselves that we would never feel that feeling again,” he said. “I think it cost us some fuel to get to where we are tonight.”

Thursday was the Trail Blazers' second-worst loss, following a 65-point loss to Indiana on Feb. 27, 1998. They are the first franchise in NBA history to lose by 60 points or more in multiple games. Their 77 points were the fewest of any team in a game over the past two seasons.

Jalen Williams scored 21 points, Chet Holmgren added 19 and Giddey had 13 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his ninth career triple-double. He went 5-for-5 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line, becoming, at age 21, the youngest player in the NBA with a triple-double and 100% shooting in a game .

The Thunder shot 57% from the field. It was a complete victory for an Oklahoma City team that had won in Miami the day before and returned home at 3 a.m. Thursday.

“I thought we cleared a few hurdles tonight,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. I thought the first one was the start of the game, our preparation to play and the energy that we were able to generate, obviously, with a busy schedule, which is a step forward. It's the spirit that takes precedence over material. And then the other one Howl was playing with a lead. … I thought we played pretty well with a lead, on both ends of the court.

Portland's Anfernee Simons scored 14 points and Scoot Henderson scored 13 on 4-for-21 shooting. The Trail Blazers shot just 27.7 percent from the field.

On the other hand, Oklahoma City had 41 assists on 53 field goals made.

“I mean, there wasn’t much really good to say about this one for us,” Billups said. “I mean, I will say this. I thought we generated a really good performance in the first half. The fact that we couldn't do much deflated us.”

Henderson scored the first five points of the game before the Thunder responded with a 22-2 run to take control. The highlight of the run was a strange basket from Holmgren. He drove to the rim on a fast break and was tackled from behind by Portland's Jerami Grant. Somehow, Holmgren threw the ball over his shoulder and into the hoop to give Oklahoma City an 18-7 lead.

Oklahoma City dominated from there, increasing the lead to 75-39 at halftime. Portland's frustration flared when Shaedon Sharpe and Billups were both booked for technical fouls with 1:45 left in the second quarter.

The Thunder continued this momentum in the second half. Giddey threw a pass like a quarterback almost the length of the court and found Williams for a layup to give the Thunder an 86-46 lead. Oklahoma City outscored the Trail Blazers 43-17 in the third quarter to take a 118-56 advantage into the fourth, the largest lead at the start of a fourth quarter in NBA history.

The Associated Press and ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.