The Oklahoma City Thunder play host to the Portland Trail Blazers at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Wednesday.

The Trail Blazers (2-2) have to play 13 of their first 18 games on the road. That really stinks for any NBA team, especially one who thrives at home. The good news is that this is a poised team that finished third in the west last season. So far this year, they have road wins over the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings while losing in San Antonio in their last game and taking a home defeat at the hands of the Denver Nuggets in the opener. Those two losses are nothing to be discouraged by, as that would be tough for anyone. What they have to be ecstatic about is the play of Damian Lillard, averaging 30.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game so far this season. Those brilliant averages are some of the best numbers of his career and he may finally be in MVP discussion if he continues to play like this. The addition of Hassan Whiteside has been an undervalued asset too though, with the big man averaging 13 points and 12.3 rebounds of his own.

The Thunder (1-3) have to be disappointed to be 1-3 through four games because they've been playing some good basketball. A 28-point win over the Golden State Warriors is the biggest indicator of that but narrow road losses to the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz vindicate that notion. While losing Paul George and Russell Westbrook is obviously a huge detriment, they have to be excited about the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander addition. The versatile guard is leading the team with 23.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, as he truly looks like a breakout in the making. If he can continue to play like that and they get better play from struggling veterans like Chris Paul and Steven Adams, this could be a team to fear in the west all season long.

Despite the fact that Portland won six-straight games over OKC coming into last season, the Thunder actually swept the four-game set between them last year.