Some NBA games are complex, a dance between equally matched, ferociously fighting opponents that only careful analysis and advanced metrics can explain fully.
This was not one of those games.
The Oklahoma City Thunder met the charge of the Portland Trail Blazers with ease Wednesday night, absorbing jabs and ducking wild haymakers, building a 20-point lead that they had little trouble holding onto. The Blazers never gave up on their attack but they might as well have been smacking a Sherman Tank with a violin. When the final horn sounded Oklahoma City had earned a 106-90 victory, leaving the Blazers 0-1 to start their 5-game Christmas road trip.