NBA Game Preview - Portland at Oklahoma City

Wed Oct 30, 2019 8:00 PM EDT

When Portland goes to Oklahoma City on Wednesday in a rematch of first-round playoff opponents, the Trail Blazers will face a decidedly new-look Thunder.

Oklahoma City (1-3) parted ways with former Most Valuable Player Russell Westbrook in a trade to the Houston Rockets during the offseason. At the center of the deal for the Thunder, nine-time All-NBA selection Chris Paul is producing career-low statistics through his first four games.

The 15-year veteran point guard is averaging 13.3 points and 3.3 assists in 28.3 minutes per game. Paul finished with 15 points and four assists in a road loss to his former team, the Houston Rockets, on Monday.

"The fans were always great to me and my family," Paul told reporters of Houston in his postgame press conference. "Some of the people here became like family to me. I tried to stay in touch with those who were as genuine as could be."

While the longtime benchmark for point guard play in the NBA nears the end of his career, Wednesday night his Thunder teammates face another star point guard hitting his peak -- Damian Lillard.

Lillard's 37-foot, Game 5 winner in April's playoff matchup between the Blazers and Thunder put emphatic punctuation on Portland's series win. He comes into Wednesday's rematch averaging 30.8 points on 46.1 percent shooting.

He recorded 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a 113-110 loss to the Spurs on Monday in San Antonio -- an odd game in which Portland led by 19 points in the first quarter, and trailed by the same margin in the fourth.

"We came out really well, making shots, getting stops," Lillard said in his postgame press conference. "And in the huddle I just kept saying, 'Everything is going well for us right now. Whenever this happens, it slows down.' You stop making shots, the other team comes along and when that does happen, we've got to be able to sustain our energy on the defensive end when the shots stop falling. It happened."

Portland (2-2) opened its current, three-game road swing on Sunday in another contest that came to the final possession, beating the Dallas Mavericks 121-119. The Trail Blazers rallied after trailing 40-25 in the first quarter, led by 35 points from Lillard's backcourt mate, CJ McCollum.

McCollum shook off a slow start to the season, scoring 12 and 19 in Portland's first two outings, and has posted a combined 81 points thus far on the road trip.

Wednesday's game marks a second straight matchup for Oklahoma City against an opponent with two potential All-Stars in the same backcourt. Houston's Westbrook and James Harden combined for 61 points in the Rockets' 116-112 win.

The decision was not all the Thunder lost in Houston, either. Center Steven Adams left the game with a left knee contusion in the fourth quarter. His status for Wednesday is uncertain.

His potential absence leaves a void on the glass, where Adams is averaging 11.5 rebounds per game, and places a greater emphasis on stopping Portland's dynamic in the perimeter without a dominant rim protector inside.

Tasked in part with that responsibility is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the second-year guard who is off to a hot start. Oklahoma City acquired Gilgeous-Alexander in the offseason trade that sent All-Star Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers.

--Field Level Media