The Blazers bounced back from a rough road trip on Wednesday and won their second game in a row, crushing the Oklahoma City Thunder in front of a happy Thanksgiving crowd. It was Carmelo Anthony's first home game in as a Blazer and the fans warmed to him right away. Melo scored 19 points on and efficient nine of eleven shooting and brought some much needed energy into the mix. By the end of the night chants of "Mel-o! Mel-o!" filled the arena. Damian Lillard led all scorers with 27 points. The Blazers led by as much as 35 in a dominating performance that left fans wondering, "Can this season by salvaged after all?"

Oklahoma City is a team headed straight for the bottom of the western conference bracket, but they have some solid players in Chris Paul, Steve Adams, and Danillo Galinari and this game was far from assured for a Blazer team that has struggled throughout this young season. But the Blazers came out red hot right from the start, hitting their first 10 shots and stifling the Thunder on defense as well. Hassan Whiteside was a force to be reckoned within the first half and ended the game with an impressive 21 points and 16 rebounds.

Portland led by 13 at the half and the game looked firmly under their control. Let's have a look at some of the action in the hallways during the break, shall we?

This guy on the right, John, goes to 10-15 games a year and dons the same face paint and wig each time. Superfan!

A couple that roots for the Blazers together, stays together!

"They call me 'Space Man'."

Benny the Beaver was in attendance along with the Oregon Duck in honor of the big civil war football game coming up this weekend:

Okay, the rest of the game was fun in that the Blazers didn't blow their lead and the crowd cheered every time Carmelo Anthony got the ball. If he can continue this fine play it will make for a pretty great redemption story and also ease the scoring pressure on Damian Lillard and Cj McCollum. With the game firmly in hand we got to see minutes from some the very deep bench guys like 7'2" Moses Brown and Jaylen Hoard. Brown scored four points and looked very tall.

The Blazers now stand at 7 wins and 12 loses, holding on to 10th place in the western conference. Can they turn things around and make a playoff run after all? We shall see. They take on the Chicago Bulls, who will be looking for revenge after getting beaten by the Blazers last week, at home in the Moda Center on Friday night. Bring it on! Happy Thanksgiving Rip City!