'You Taste Your Own Blood': OKC Thunder Goes Full-Circle in Historic Win Over Trail Blazers

The Oklahoma City Thunder kept its foot on the gas all night against the Portland Trail Blazers, which resulted in a franchise-best 62-point victory and a full-circle moment for coach Mark Daigneault at the same time.

Midway through the third quarter of the Oklahoma City Thunder's road matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers, sports books across the league began to offer a rather extreme bet in favor of the NBA's second-youngest squad. 

Not only would the bet hit if the Trail Blazers lost, but it'd hit if they lost by 60 or more points. And while Portland had been struggling, losing by a margin that big just wasn't possible, was it? 

Could a team really lose by 62 to a team who had just played the night before?

Forty-eight minutes of game time later, and that answer was made clear. It was. The Thunder — which had experienced losing by as many as 73 a few years prior — finally made it all the way around. It handed Portland its worst loss of the season while notching a franchise-best victory margin in the process. 

Safe to say, Mark Daigneault loved it.

"You learn that the sun comes up the next day," the coach said of his team's journey from a 73-point loss to a 62-point win. "That’s like your worst nightmare, that game, but the fear of it is worse than the reality of it. The reality is, you lose the game, you taste your own blood."

On Dec. 3, 2021, the Thunder got a taste of its own blood. It couldn't do anything but keep trying, even when it meant enduring loss after loss — all byproducts of a rebuild. But despite the woes, it continued to work. To practice.

To play.

And against the Trail Blazers, it got the result it wanted.

“We endured a lot of struggle," Daigneault added. "That brings integrity to future experiences. We're probably better, not only with that game, but we're probably better because of the struggles we've endured. And we’ll endure more struggles, and we'll be better because of those if we handle them the same way.”

Oklahoma City might not be struggling anymore — tied for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with the Minnesota Timberwolves — but it hasn't forgotten where it came from. 

Beating Portland was only another step forward.

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