Nov 23, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shouts and celebrates after a basket against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn ImagesClemente Almanza, OKC Thunder WireMon, November 24, 2025 at 3:59 AM UTC·9 min readOKLAHOMA CITY — Getting by Portland's defense once again, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander smoothly scored a prototypical layup. As a timeout was called, what wasn't prototypical was his walk to the bench. He jumped toward his seat in excitement. Didn't take long to tell that OKC had this matchup circled.
The Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely destroyed the Portland Trail Blazers in a 122-95 win. They avenged their lone loss of the regular season as they sit atop the NBA standings with a near-impeccable 17-1 record.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhen you face OKC's vicious defense, you gotta have some ball-handlers. Portland learned that with some firsthand experience, as Jrue Holiday, Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson were out. Pair that with some extra motivation, how this game would play out was obvious from the jump.
Gilgeous-Alexander was sharp from his first shot attempt. He scored 17 quick points. By the time the Trail Blazers blinked, they were already down double-digit points. The Thunder had a 39-18 lead after the first quarter. The offense was on another level. All five OKC players on the floor were in synch with the playmaking.
With both teams scoring 28 points in the second quarter, the Thunder maintained their distance. They entered halftime with a commanding 67-46 lead. Only free-throw trips and second-chance looks prevented the inevitable avalanche. The keyword there is inevitable.
Eventually, the Thunder blew this game open. A 20-8 third-quarter run sealed the result. Gilgeous-Alexander entered a flow state with his scoring and playmaking. A zip pass to Isaiah Hartenstein resulted in an easy dunk. A skip pass to Isaiah Joe resulted in an open outside look. They scored 29 points in the third frame.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe only times the OKC crowd wasn't happy were Rayan Rupert's flagrant foul on Ajay Mitchell and when Cason Wallace had a couple of tough-luck dunk misses at the rim. Besides that, though, everything went their way with another ho-hum blowout they've normalized at this point.
Opening up a 96-68 lead after the third frame, this one was about over. Gilgeous-Alexander didn't need to play another fourth quarter. Both teams cleared their benches. The Thunder scored 26 points in the final frame. In total, they led by as many as 36 points.
The Thunder shot 52% from the field and went 15-of-36 (41.7%) from 3. They shot 17-of-23 on free throws. They had 33 assists on 45 baskets. Three Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with an efficient 37 points and seven assists. Mitchell scored 20 points and didn't miss any of his eight shot attempts. Joe scored 10 points.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMeanwhile, the Trail Blazers shot 37% from the field and went 12-of-47 (25.5%) from 3. They shot 15-of-21 on free throws. They had 16 assists on 34 baskets. Three Trail Blazers players scored double-digit points.
Jerami Grant had 21 points and three rebounds. Deni Avdija finished with 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting. Rupert tallied 10 points and five rebounds.
Well, if the Thunder wanted to send a message to the Trail Blazers, let's say they successfully did. I know Portland has the caveat of its entire backcourt being out, but this showed them that there are levels to this whole contention thing. While they've had a nice season, the reigning NBA champion coldly reminded them of the sea-size gap between these squads.
Let's look at Thunder player grades:
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementShai Gilgeous-Alexander: A-plus
Nov 23, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) goes up for a basket against the Portland Trail Blazers during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn ImagesIntercepting the corner pass intended for Toumani Camara, Gilgeous-Alexander didn't give up the ball on the way to their side of the court. He went the entire length in the transition opportunity. Muscling his way through Camara's one-on-one defense, the ball slowly fell in as he drew the and-one layup.
His usually calm demeanor faded. Gilgeous-Alexander pumped his arms in celebration. He yelled towards OKC's bench. As Portland couldn't stop him, the reigning MVP wanted to avenge their only loss of the year. Fair to say he did that.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 37 points on 13-of-18 shooting, seven assists and five rebounds. He shot 2-of-3 from 3 and went 9-of-9 on free throws. He also had two steals.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementProbably bored with the past week's cupcake schedule, Gilgeous-Alexander found some extra motivation in this matchup. He went full attack mode from the start. 17 points in the first quarter quickly built up a double-digit lead for the Thunder. The reigning MVP couldn't miss from the field.
That continued for the rest of the night. Gilgeous-Alexander sliced through Portland's defense. Nobody could stay in front of him. A couple of outside makes stressed out the Trail Blazers' defense. He leveraged that for his teammates. It was just too easy for him as he also flashed some of his passing skills.
At this point, Gilgeous-Alexander has normalized these historic outings. To get an efficient 30 points in three quarters has turned into the standard. He did it once again as he sat out the fourth frame. I don't know how you can watch this on a night-to-night basis and not think he should be at the front of the MVP race.
Ajay Mitchell: A-plus
Nov 23, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell (25) drives down the court against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn ImagesAs Mitchell drove to the basket, Rupert had to resort to a physical foul to prevent the layup. That sparked a little bit of a scuffle. While Mitchell was working on his free-throw form, his OKC teammates had a full head of steam. They confronted Portland over the foul that was eventually upgraded to a flagrant.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYou can't knock Mitchell off his groove. He finished with 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting, four assists and one rebound. He shot 2-of-2 from 3 and went 2-of-4 on free throws. He also had two steals.
A perfect performance from Mitchell. He needed it after being in a small funk. Just like Gilgeous-Alexander, he did it by driving to the basket. Once he saw a few shots go in, that gave him a power-up in confidence. Eventually, the outside jumpers fell too.
Mitchell has helped the Thunder juggle their injuries. He's been a consistent double-digit scorer. He's helped balloon the lead in the bench lineup minutes this season. It's exactly what OKC needed with its championship roster.
Isaiah Hartenstein: B-minus
Nov 23, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) shoots against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn ImagesThreading the needle several times, Hartenstein found plenty of his cutting teammates with a bounce pass. Offense is the side of the ball that can get inconsistent for the Thunder, but when they're in a flow, they're unstoppable to beat. He helped with that as a secondary playmaker.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHartenstein finished with seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, 15 rebounds and three assists. He shot 1-of-2 on free throws. He also had three blocks.
The double-big chemistry has been near-perfected at this point, ala Walter White. Holmgren finds Hartenstein at the dunker spot. And vice versa. The rest of the NBA is still trying to figure out how to stop those two when they connect on alley-oops or layups.
Matching up with Donovan Clingan, Hartenstein did about as well as you could hope for. Sure, the size matchup was a bit surreal at times. The Trail Blazers' center made even Holmgren look small. But five fouls in 20 minutes and being just a plus-two prove that OKC pretty easily handled him.
Hartenstein's arrival is the biggest outside addition OKC has had. The on-court results speak for themselves. But an intangible has been his seamless fit with a bunch of players younger than him. One example is him being the first to lead the charge at Rupert for the flagrant foul he committed on Mitchell.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhile it resulted in a technical foul, that's a price you gladly pay. It's about the sentiment at that point. Hartenstein has been an A-plus teammate over his last season-plus. It's helped nurture a locker room environment where everybody is on the same page.
Isaiah Joe: B
Nov 23, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) gestures after scoring a basket against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn ImagesReceiving Gilgeous-Alexander's skip pass from across the court, Joe rewarded the highlight throw on the stat sheet. He knocked down the outside jumper as the Thunder buried the Trail Blazers on the scoreboard for good in the third quarter.
Joe finished with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting, two rebounds and one assist. He shot 2-of-6 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had a steal and a block.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis was the latest addition of an awesome season for Joe. After a career campaign last year, he's one-upped himself. The Thunder have been able to win the bench lineup minutes with his flamethrowing outside shooting. And when he shares the floor with Gilgeous-Alexander, he makes defenses pay for doubling the reigning MVP.
Joe is another OKC player who can go off on any night. He's helped overcome Aaron Wiggins' absence as a scoring punch off the bench. He might not be able to create his own looks, but his constant movement in a pass-happy offense gives him plenty of quality looks from deep.
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This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Player grades: Thunder get revenge in 122-95 win over Trail Blazers
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