National Basketball Association
Oklahoma City 111, Portland 95
When: 9:30 PM ET, Sunday, March 18, 2012
Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Officials:
#56 Mark Ayotte, #10 Ron Garretson, #68 Marat Kogut
Attendance:
18203
By SportsDirect Inc.
THUNDER 111, TRAIL BLAZERS 95: Kevin Durant had 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Russell Westbrook scored 28 as Oklahoma City ended a two-game home slide with a resounding victory over revamped Portland.
Oklahoma City (34-11) leads the Western Conference and improved to 19-4 at home in handing Portland its first loss under interim coach Kaleb Canales, who won his opener at Chicago after replacing fired Nate McMillan. The Trail Blazers (21-24) completed a 2-5 trip after firing McMillan, trading starters Gerald Wallace and Marcus Camby and releasing former No. 1 overall pick Greg Oden.
James Harden scored 14 points. He was just 1 of 7 from the field, but made 11 of 14 free throws and had seven assists. Thabo Sefolosha had 11 points.
Jamal Crawford scored 23 off the bench for Portland. Raymond Felton had 19 points and seven assists. Wesley Matthews scored 16 and LaMarcus Aldridge added 15.
Portland won 103-93 at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Jan. 3 and was as the only visiting team to win at the building in Oklahoma City's first 18 home games this season, but the Blazers were forced to play catch up throughout Sunday's game. The Thunder held Portland to 6-of-23 shooting in the first quarter and Portland's bench was 0 for 6.
Portland was 11 of 17 (64.7 percent) in the second quarter, but still trailed 57-42.
The most surprising part of the first half for Oklahoma City was that sixth man Harden had just two points and was 0 for 4 from the field. He leads the NBA in scoring by a reserve.
Portland was able to kick up the tempo in the third quarter, but still only outscored the Thunder by one and trailed 84-70 after three.
The Trail Blazers got to 84-76 with 10:19 remaining, but Harden made five consecutive free throws, including on a 3-point attempt and the Thunder were again in control, 89-76, less than a minute later.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Reserve guard Daequan Cook, who missed Friday night's loss against the Spurs with a sore right shoulder, returned and had five points in 20 minutes. ... Portland has won four times in Oklahoma City since the Thunder relocated from Seattle four years ago. ... Oklahoma City was 11 of 18 on 3-pointers and outrebounded the Trail Blazers 43-35.
Top Game Performances
| Portland |
|
Oklahoma City |
|
Jamal Crawford 23 |
Scoring |
Russell Westbrook 28 |
|
Raymond Felton 7 |
Assists |
James Harden 7 |
|
Joel Przybilla 11 |
Rebounds |
Serge Ibaka 8 |
|
Raymond Felton 5 |
Free Throws Made |
James Harden 11 |
|
Wesley Matthews 4 |
Steals |
Kevin Durant 3 |
|
Joel Przybilla 2 |
Blocks |
Serge Ibaka 4 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Portland
|
95 |
46.4 |
8-21 |
9-14 |
15 |
35 |
3 |
8 |
12 |
| Oklahoma City
|
111 |
55.4 |
11-18 |
18-28 |
24 |
43 |
8 |
8 |
15 |
Upcoming Games
-
Oklahoma City will play their next game on the road against Utah. The Thunder have a W/L % of .706 after a win and .909 after a loss.
-
Portland will play their next game at home against Milwaukee. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .238 after a win and .667 after a loss.
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