The Portland Trail Blazers return home from a 3-0 trip with a four-game winning streak to face their most daunting home stand of the season starting Sunday afternoon with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Blazers have lost twice to the Thunder, falling 137-114 at home on Nov. 1 and 109-99 on the road on Nov. 20.

The Blazers put forth an impressive defensive effort at the Thunder to trail by just one point entering the fourth quarter.

Portland has played impressively on defense lately, allowing 96 points per game during their last four victories. But it’s doubtful Portland’s defense will hold up against the Thunder.

Oklahoma City ranks sixth in offensive rating (116), first in defensive rating (103.7) and first in net rating (plus-12.3).

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the NBA with 32 points per game.

Prediction: The Thunder will win. There’s no need for an explanation.

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PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS VS. OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

What: Trail Blazers (17-28) vs. Thunder (36-8), 3 p.m., Sunday.

Where: Moda Center.

Radio: Rip City Radio (KPOJ 620 AM).

TV channel: KATU (Antenna: 2.2 in Portland. Xfinity: 302 and 1170. DirecTV: 688-1. KUNP (Antenna: 47.1. Xfinity: 16, 302, 1170. DirecTV: 47. Spectrum: 184).

How to Watch: Rip City TV Network. If you don’t have cable, you can still watch this game live for FREE with the help of an HDTV antenna on your local ABC affiliate (Charge 2.2 in Portland). These antennas are very easy to install and cost around $20. You can purchase one at your local Bi-Mart or Fred Meyer, or buy one online at Walmart or from Amazon and have it shipped quickly to your home. Here are some instructions on how to set up an HDTV antenna on your television or other display. You can find out more about which channel Rip City TV Network is on in your area by using the channel finder here.

• • •

ODDS (Oregon Lottery/DraftKings)

Moneyline: POR +470 | OKC -650

Spread: POR +11.5 | Over/Under: 225.5

INJURIES

Blazers: Deandre Ayton (right knee soreness) and Matisse Thybulle (right ankle sprain) are out for Friday.

Thunder: Cason Wallace (nasal fracture) is available. Luguentz Dort (right knee soreness), Chet Holmgren (right iliac fracture), Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) and Ajay Mitchell (right toe surgery) are

NEXT UP

The Blazers host Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook)

FAYETTEVILLE — It wasn’t pretty, but Oklahoma got the job done. Despite leading by 13 points at one point in the first half and playing well for much of the opening 16 minutes, the Sooners found themselves in another tight battle.

After a rough stretch to start the second half, where Oklahoma went cold and committed seven turnovers, the game was knotted at 62-62 with just 1:20 left.

Out of a sideline inbounds, the Sooners went to Jalon Moore, who drew a foul and hit one of two free throws. Then, after a big defensive stop, Mohamed Wague was called for an offensive foul, giving Arkansas one last chance with 24.7 seconds to go.

The Razorbacks couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. Duke Miles grabbed the rebound, fed it to Moore, who slammed it home, sealing a 65-62 victory for the Sooners, moving them to 15-4 (2-4) on the season.

“We knew they were going to be physical and drive it,” said Porter Moser. “We were all about getting that rebound, making a tough shot, and then going to get it. It’s like how they won the Georgia game—Thiero came and took it and got that offensive rebound. We talked about that in that huddle: ‘We’ve got to get the rebound.’”

— Oklahoma’s three-point shooting was key in the first half. The Sooners hit 7 of 16 from deep (43.8%), taking full advantage of Arkansas’ struggles to defend the perimeter. Glenn Taylor sank two, Luke Northweather added one off the bench, and Jeremiah Fears got in on the action early. Oklahoma’s ability to stretch the floor had the Razorbacks scrambling defensively.

Brycen Goodine shined from behind the arc, scoring 9 points on 3-6 shooting. He was hot in the first half but struggled with foul trouble in the second. “He’s such a threat from three,” said Moser. “Even when he doesn’t get it, you can look at the tape—they’re shading him. So it opens up driving lanes.”

— Arkansas closed the half on a 9-0 run, flipping the momentum heading into the break. OU’s 13-point lead vanished in a hurry, cut to just four as the Razorbacks came alive late. The Sooners controlled most of the game but went ice-cold down the stretch, failing to make a field goal in the final four minutes.

— Halfway through the second half, the Sooners had scored just 9 points in the first 10 minutes. They hadn’t hit a field goal in the last 3:47 and had committed 7 turnovers during the 10-minute span.

— The Sooners leaned heavily on Jalon Moore, who played 37 minutes and finished with 13 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, along with six rebounds. Moore, Fears, and Miles each logged 30+ minutes in the game.

— Fears finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and three assists on 4-of-8 shooting, including a perfect 1-of-1 from three. He logged 32 minutes and committed just two turnovers. Moser highlighted a key growth moment for Fears in the first half.

“One of the key plays for him in this game came when he got trapped by their bench in the first half. Instead of panicking, he didn’t just throw it away. He stepped through, got it out to Sam, and we ended up with a dunk.

“That was a huge growth play because when you get trapped, sometimes you just ‘hot potato’ it. But he stepped through, made sure he got it out, and when we did, we got a dunk. I thought that was a really big play for him.”

Fears took a hard hit and went down with an apparent leg injury late in the first half, but it didn’t faze him. “He just doesn’t have a lot of fear. He’s not afraid of any moment. I think everyone else was more worried when he went down than he was. He got hit in the thigh, but what I liked is that when he went back in, he didn’t let it be an excuse. He played really hard.”

— Taylor and Northweather provided solid contributions off the bench. Taylor finished with 8 points on 3-7 shooting and added six rebounds in 23 minutes. Northweather chipped in 6 points, including three clutch free throws, despite going 1-4 from beyond the arc.

— Oklahoma’s shooting was a tale of two halves. The Sooners started strong from beyond the arc, going 7-16 (43.8%) in the first half. But they went cold in the second half, missing all five of their three-point attempts. Overall, they finished 7-21 (33.3%) from deep and 21-51 (41.2%) from the field, with 13 turnovers.

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Between OU’s first junior day of the spring, several at-school and at-home visits and a handful of offers, the Sooners had a productive week on the recruiting trail.

Here is the latest on Oklahoma’s search for rising football talent:

A handful of the Sooners’ top targets went to Saturday’s junior day, the first one of the 2025 spring geared toward prospects in the Class of 2026.

Prospects that announced their intentions to attend include quarterback Jaden O’Neal, running back Kaydin Jones, edge rusher Kevin Ford Jr., wide receivers Jabari Brady and Daniel Odom and defensive lineman Valdin Sone. 

O’Neal is one of three players committed to Oklahoma in the Class of 2026. He is ranked as the No. 63 prospect in the class by ESPN and is in the top 300 in all major recruiting services.

Out of Harbor City, CA, O’Neal committed to OU on June 24, 2024.

Jones — the No. 2 recruit from Oklahoma in the 2026 class, per Rivals — narrowed his list of schools down to five earlier this week, and OU was one of them. The 4-star running back out of Jenks also has Kansas, Louisville, Tennessee and Vanderbilt in his top five.

Jones also posted a photo on X alongside O’Neal and 2026 wideout target Mason James.

James, out of Norman, is a 4-star wide receiver prospect that is ranked No. 172 by 247 Sports.

Brady and Odom are both graded as 4-stars by 247 Sports. Brady is the No. 68 overall prospect in the 2026 class, while Odom is the No. 29 player from California.

Ford, also a 4-star, is the No. 11 edge rusher in the 2026 class. Sone, a 6-foot-3, 320-pound d-lineman originally from Sweden, is the No. 9 prospect from Virginia.

A handful of Oklahoma coaches visited numerous prospects at their schools or their homes this week.

More than 10 prospects posted on X/Twitter that coaches visited them. 

Sone got a recruiter visit in the same week that he went to junior day, while 4-star linebacker Brayden Rouse was visited by OU coach Brent Venables and recruiting coordinator Miguel Chavis and picked up an offer from the Sooners.

Other coaches that visited recruits include offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh, offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, wide receivers coach Emmett Jones, co-defensive coordinator Todd Bates, running backs coach DeMarco Murray and defensive backs coach Jay Valai.

In addition to Rouse, the Sooners offered nine other prospects this week: quarterback Bowe Bentley, tight ends Luke Sorensen and Jeramie Cooper, wide receiver Derrick Johnson II, defensive backs Chace Calicut, Carter Stewart and Dhillon McGee, offensive lineman Canon Pickett and defensive lineman Corey Wells. All eight of them announced their offers via X/Twitter.

Cooper and Wells are part of the Class of 2027, while the other six are 2026 prospects.

Bentley, a 4-star quarterback, led Celina (Texas) to a 16-0 record and the 4A state championship in 2024.

Shortly after Calicut’s offer, he reportedly told Hayes Fawcett of On3 that the Sooners are among his top 10 schools.

On3 has Calicut ranked as the No. 1 safety from Texas in the Class of 2026. Other schools in Calicut’s top 10 include Texas, Texas A&M and Oregon.

McGee, also from Texas, is another 4-star defensive back. 247 Sports has him rated as the No. 92 player in the Class of 2026, and McGee has also collected offers from Nebraska, Ole Miss and Texas Tech.