OKC Thunder to play Trail Blazers four times before New Year's in 2025-26 season
The Oklahoma City Thunder will enter under the national spotlight. The NBA champions are a popular pick to repeat. They're tied for the most national television games at 34. Expect them to be the team most opponents circle in their calendar as their barometer test.
Examining the Thunder's 2025-26 regular season, here is one quirky takeaway from their slate — they will play a Northwest Divisional foe four times before the calendar flips to 2026. They will play the Portland Trail Blazers four times within the first two months.
The Thunder will travel to face the Trail Blazers on Wednesday, Nov. 5. They will then host Portland on Sunday, Nov. 23. Within the same month, they return to play at the Trail Blazers on Sunday, Nov. 30.
Finally, the Thunder will host the Trail Blazers for their traditional New Year's Eve home game on Wednesday, Dec. 31. It's something OKC has done over the years.
As both teams went in opposite directions, the Thunder have dominated the Trail Blazers over the last four years. They're on an active 16-game win streak that spans four seasons. Portland last beat OKC in April 2021. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has put up monster numbers against the rebuild squad.
Now, this year's four matchups could be more exciting. The Trail Blazers hope to be competitive. They acquired Jrue Holiday and brought back Damian Lillard. While the latter will miss most of the season recovering from a torn Achilles, his return signals going for it.
That said, the Thunder should still win the season series. They're the consensus best team in the NBA. Meanwhile, the Trail Blazers are still far away from being in the same stratosphere. It should be four wins for OKC early on to pad its record.
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