In part two of our series, we look back at the first big win of the Portland Trail Blazers’ 2017-2018 season.
The Trail Blazers’ 10th game of the season was at home against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And up to that point, we Rip City fans could be excused for not really knowing what to make of this Portland squad.
After a historic win on opening night against the Phoenix Suns, the Blazers seemed to have trouble finding their rhythm — or any rhythm, for that matter.
It’s not that the Blazers were bad.
It’s just that they were … well, what were they?
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Portland had beaten some decent teams: the Pelicans; the Pacers. But they had lost to some decent teams, too: the Clippers; the Raptors; the Jazz; even the Bucks.
So by the time Oklahoma City rolled into town on Nov. 5, the Blazers were just 5-4.
OKC wasn’t necessarily beating up the world, either. But they sported a starting five that included Russell Westbrook — and two new teammates: Paul George and Carmelo Anthony.
But it was the Blazers’ “Big 3” that would lead the way to victory on this night.
Thunder-Blazers
One of the reasons we chose to feature this game is because it was the first “biggest win of the season” (there would be a few of those, naturally).
But we also chose this game because it was an early indication of how good the Blazers could be when their “Big 3” — Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic — were playing at the top of their games.
Lillard led all scorers with 36 points; he also dished out 13 assists (tied for his season high). Nurkic scored 25 points on 11/15 shooting and added eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. And McCollum, who hit a couple of crucial late threes, finished with 22 points.
Rip City had seen a few tantalizing glimpses of this kind of dominance from its three biggest stars since Nurkic arrived via trade from Denver in February 2017. And, truth be told, it was the kind of performance that Rip City hoped to see a lot more of, not just for the 2017-2018 season, but for years to come.
But we’re getting way, way ahead of ourselves.
Losing Night for Thunder
As for the Thunder, they left the Moda Center with a 4-5 record. George was excellent, scoring 27 points, and Westbrook was his usual stats-gobbling self (25 points, nine assists, six rebounds).
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As for Anthony … well, he didn’t get much playing time (about 23 minutes); he was ejected in the third quarter after getting called for a Flagrant 2 foul for hitting Nurkic in the face with his elbow.
It was a strange play on a winning night for the Blazers.
Their first biggest win of the season.