Thunder/Portland Live Blog

Chris Paul, Terrance Ferguson, and Nerlnes Noel are all out for the Thunder's final scrimmage before the NBA restart. Paul is resting, Ferguson suffered a leg contusion vs. The 76ers and is sitting for precautionary measures, and Noel missed a required COVID-19 test.

With Paul on the shelf, your starting lineup will be PG Shai Gilgeous-Alexander SG-Lu Dort SF, Andre Roberson, PF Danilo Gallinari, and C Steven Adams. Yes, you read that right Andre Roberson is back in the starting five for the first time in two and a half seasons.

Nader Back

After suffering a concussion in the Thunder's win over Philadelphia, Abdel Nader is back. Nader passed the concussion protocol and will go vs. Portland.

First Quarter

This is about as sloppy a start as you can get! Thunder has turned it over on three of their first four possessions. It's almost as if they saw no Lillard or McCulloum and went, ah what the heck.

Dort with a beautiful three, hopefully, that gets the offense going. Nope, another turnover.

9-3 Portland at the first timeout.

Unless it is egregious, giving a technical foul in a scrimmage is ridiculous. That being said, you have to be smart enough to know refs can hear everything with no crowd, and Steven Adams is right; they are going to call more techs than an average year to maintain control of games.

Dennis Schroder and Diallo in for Roberson and Dort. I agree with Fish that yes, for a second game, the Thunder offense is out of sync; however, you don't have Paul and Dort on the floor right now, so it's hard to too critical.

15-14 Portland at the timeout.

Steven Adams never takes a night off. For those that don't watch 60 or more NBA games a year, have this perception that all players take nights off. While some may get bored, Adams is not one of them.

Not sure how many guys would have gotten on the floor for a loose ball in a scrimmage.

Bazley for three! Nader in as well. For a second straight game, Hamdioiu Diallo keeps showing he deserves more playing time, a couple of nice drives, and drawing a foul on a jump shot, plus, this guy hustles his tail off.

Darius Bazley is no joke! Nice stroke on a couple of three, a beautiful drive on a layup. For the second straight game, the second unit is sparking this team.

At the End of One 30-26 OKC

Second Quarter

Diallo is doing a great job of getting to basket this half, that's a couple of beautiful drives to the basket. I'll take a turnover if a guy is showing effort.

Never thought, I'd be happy about not seeing Anfrrnee Simons when the seeding games start.

18-2 Thunder run! 57-42 OKC.

That's the second time this game Adams got on the floor to get a loose ball. Then he keeps the possession alive with the significant Kiwi step to the hoop. Sorry, I can't call it a Euro step.

Of all the starters, Adams is the most game ready.

Third Quarter

Thunder on fire to start the second-half lead by 22 after a Lu Dort three!

Dort's offense was one of our things to watch during this scrimmage. Dort is doing enough to give me confidence that the Thunder can have a higher offensive output during the restart.

I feel bad because I haven't mentioned Mike Muscala and his eight points tonight. Make it 10—excellent ball movement by the Thunder on that possession.

Rember, that statement about Adams being the starter most game ready, let's add Lu Dort to that list.

Kind of like this lineup of Dort, Schroder, Roberson, Muscala, and Bazley. Dre's shot looks so smooth!

102-78 Thunder end of the third.

Fourth Quarter

Let's see how long Dort remains in the game. It would stand to reason that Donovan would want to pull him sometime in the next few minutes.

Thunder wins 131-120.

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