OKC Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers Predicted Starting Lineups and Depth Chart for Jan. 26 | 2024-25 NBA season

The OKC Thunder take on the Portland Trail Blazers for the third time this season on Sunday in an exciting matchup between two of hottest teams in the Western Conference. Following a slow start, the Blazers seem to be clicking, recording four straight wins over the last week. Meanwhile, the Thunder possess the best record in the NBA, winning 36 of 44 games.

Fans at the Moda Center will get to see some top-tier talent in action, with early MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set to feature for the OKC Thunder. Portland, meanwhile, will turn to their rising stars Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe to steer their offense.

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OKC Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers Predicted Starting Lineups and Depth Chart

OKC Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins Photo Credit: Imagn

The OKC Thunder have set the pace in the Western Conference, and one of the reasons for their early-season success has been a deep rooster. Ten different players have started for Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Luguentz Dort lead the team with 43 starts, followed by Cason Wallace with 29.

An early-season injury to former Gonzaga star Chet Holmgren forced coach Mark Daigneault to rotate his starting group. The power forward has only played 10 games this season. He's expected to miss Sunday's game but is expected back soon.

Isaiah Hartenstein, who missed a significant portion of the season due to a calf injury, is also off the injury report and could be a surprise inclusion.

Along with Holmgren, guards Luguentz Dort, Nikola Topic and Ajay Mitchell are sidelined with injuries.

Expect to see the Thunder come out with a starting five of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Jalen Williams and Jaylen Williams.

OKC Thunder depth chart

G	Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	Alex Caruso	Ajay Mitchell (O)	Nikola Topic (O)
G	Cason Wallace	Isaiah Joe	Adam Flagler
F	Luguentz Dort (O)	Aaron Wiggins	Kenrich Williams	Dillon Jones
F	Jalen Williams	Chet Holmgren (O)	Jaylin Williams	Ousmane Dieng
C	Isaiah Hartenstein	Branden Carlson

Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncy Billups has done a fantastic job of managing and developing a young group. Portland has been relatively consistent with their starting five with six players seeing the bulk of the stars.

Toumani Camara leads the team with 43 starts, followed by Anfernee Simmons with 41. Deandre Ayton, Shaedon Sharpe, Jerami Grant and Deni Avdija have also been regulars in the starting group.

The Trail Blazers will be without Ayton, Shaedon, Matisse Thybulle and Taze Moore, who have all been ruled out of Sunday's encounter due to injuries.

Billups will likely come out with a starting five of Anfernee Simons, Toumani Camara, Deni Avdija, Jerami Grant and Donovan Clinigan.

Portland Trail Blazers depth chart

G	Anfernee Simons	Scoot Henderson	Rayan Rupert
G	Shaedon Sharpe	Matisse Thybulle (O)	Delano Banton	Taze Moore (O)
F	Toumani Camara	Kris Murray
F	Jerami Grant	Deni Avdija	Jabari Walker
C	Deandre Ayton (O)	Donovan Clinigan	Robert Williams III	Duop Reath

OKC Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers players to watch

Portland Trail Blazers guard Anfernee Simons (Photo Credit: Imagn)

After a stellar start the 2024-25 campaign, many experts believe it could be the year Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finally wins his first MVP crown. The Canadian point guard has been one of the league's most effective scorers and continues to make his teammates better with his exceptional distribution.

This season, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 6.1 apg, 2.0 spg and 1.1 bpg.

Guard Anfernee Simons has been Portland's go-to player. The talented guard has put up big numbers over the last two seasons, and Billups has trusted him to lead a young group. Simons leads the Blazers in points (18.5) and ranks second in assists (4.8).