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The Thunder are back in Portland tonight to face the Trail Blazers in what could be OKC’s final game of the 2018-19 season. Painting themselves into a scenario that somehow feels both avoidable and inevitable, the Thunder have surprised us all in how unsurprising this situation has become as game 5 arrives.
Gone are the aspirations of a seeding upset, or of OKC being the playoff dark horse. Tonight is simply about survival. About winning by any means necessary. Because a loss tonight would conclude perhaps the most depressing string of playoff runs west of Toronto.