OKC Thunder Defense Back to Dominant Form Against Portland

The Thunder had no issues stifling the Blazers' offense to finish off 2025.

Dec 31, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard Sidy Cissoko (91) drives between Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) and guard Isaiah Joe (11) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City added another win, and its defense was the catalyst once again.

After the Thunder’s defense had delivered some shaky performances over the past few weeks, a 124-95 win against the Portland Trail Blazers was a welcome sight. While the Thunder’s defense is still the league’s best, it hadn’t performed to its usual standard in December, which was exemplified by allowing 129 points to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.

While Portland has had a roller coaster of a season, it has also posed a solid matchup for the Thunder, handing Oklahoma City its first loss of the year back in early November. In that matchup, the Thunder allowed the Blazers to score 121 points, the most Oklahoma City had allowed in regulation until the past two weeks.

Of course, Wednesday night’s matchup saw a much different offensive output for the Blazers, thanks to one of the Thunder’s best defensive performances of the month. In allowing the Blazers to score only 95 points, Oklahoma City dominated on that end in a number of ways.

Considering the Thunder’s identity, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that they managed to turn the Blazers over at a significant rate, forcing 24 turnovers, which helped the Thunder rack up 25 fast break points. Along with forcing turnovers, the Blazers offense was a mess for much of the night, even when they were able to put up a shot, shooting 39.1% from the floor.

While most nights, a team will shoot better overall than from beyond the arc, the Blazers’ 40% clip on 3-point shots paints a picture of just how difficult things were for Portland when it chose to attack inside. Of course, many of those problems inside were thanks to Chet Holmgren, who had one of his best defensive games of the season, blocking a season-high six shots and adding a couple of steals.

Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way in the steals department with four. While the Thunder’s defense was certainly dominant, Gilgeous-Alexander’s 30 points on the other end helped Oklahoma City put the game out of reach early in the second half.

After the Thunder struggled for most of December defensively, getting a dominant performance on that end to cap off 2025 is exactly what Oklahoma City needed. Now riding a three-game winning streak, the Thunder are hoping to keep this level of defense going as they head to the West Coast for a quick road trip.

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