The Portland Trail Blazers play host to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Moda Center on Friday.

The Thunder (16-34) come into this matchup losing five of their last six games. Stretches like that have become typical for this team, and it's likely to continue with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out for the foreseeable future. He's been running the show in OKC for a few years now, and they simply don't have much outside of him. The one piece that's stepped up in his absence is Josh Giddey. He's been one of the most impressive rookies in the NBA, flirting with triple-doubles on a nightly basis. He was the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, and it'll be fun to watch him and SGA work over the next few years.

The Trail Blazers (21-31) have been one of the biggest disappointments in the NBA. Losing a guy like Damian Lillard to abductor surgery will do that, but they were this bad before he got injured. The main issue has been the defense, with Portland ranked 28th in defensive efficiency ratings. They played some better defense in a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, but they scored just 94 points and shot 37 percent from the field. Players like C.J. McCollum, Anfernee Simons and Jusuf Nurkic have been great filling in, but it really doesn't matter when they allow 120 points per game. That has many fans believing a rebuild is coming, and that'd be a sad development since this team has been a title contender for the last decade.

These teams played on January 31, with Oklahoma City prevailing, 98-81. That gives the Thunder four wins in their last six meetings with the Trail Blazers in total.