By CNN
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The Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, winning by 62 points to record the biggest win in franchise history and move into a tie for first place in the Western Conference.
The 139-77 victory tied the fifth-biggest blowout in NBA history, per StatMuse, and far exceeded OKC’s previous franchise record margin of victory of 45 points.
It was the Trail Blazers’ second-biggest loss in franchise history after their 65-point defeat to the Indiana Pacers in 1998, and their 77 points were the fewest scored by any team over the past two seasons, per ESPN.
Back in 2021, OKC was trounced by the Memphis Grizzlies by 73 points in the biggest blowout in NBA history, an embarrassing night that star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said the team used as motivation.
“After that game, we addressed it and we just made a promise to ourselves to never feel that feeling again,” he said.
“I think it’s been a little bit of our fuel to get to where we are tonight.”
Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 31 points to go with five rebounds and four assists, while Josh Giddey became the first player in NBA history to register a triple-double in less than 25 minutes and not miss a single shot, per StatMuse.
The Australian guard finished with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting, while adding 10 rebounds and 12 assists.
It was a putrid night for the Blazers who shot under 30% on the night (27.7%), the first team to do so since the Blazers in March 2022, per Brett Usher.
Portland is now the first franchise in NBA history to lose multiple games by more than 60 points, according to ESPN.
“It was almost like a perfect storm, to be honest with you,” Portland coach Chauncey Billups told reporters after the game. “Nothing really worked for us.
“I mean, this was… sheesh – not much really good to say about this one for us.
“I mean, I will say this: I thought that we generated some pretty good looks in the first half. The fact that we couldn’t make pretty much anything deflated us.”
Anfernee Simons scored a team-high 14 points for the Blazers on 30.8% shooting.
OKC is now tied for first in the West with the Minnesota Timberwolves after winning three straight, while the Blazers have lost five of their last six and sit in 14th place as the franchise continues its rebuild after trading away star guard Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks.
