Trail Blazers-Thunder Preview

By JEFF BARTL
Posted Jan 03 2012 1:34AM

Despite each suffering the first loss of the season in their most recent game, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trail Blazers seem poised to take the Northwest Division race down to the wire.

After uncharacteristic performances, each look to bounce back Tuesday night when Oklahoma City hosts Portland in the first of four meetings.

Kevin Durant said the Thunder (5-1) came out flat in their 100-87 loss at Dallas on Monday.

Oklahoma City came in averaging 102.0 points, and it hadn't scored that few points in a regular season game since falling 90-87 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 27.

"We didn't have any energy from the beginning," said Durant, who scored a game-high 27 points. "We need energy. It changes the whole game. We need to play with more effort. Everybody looks to me so I've got to start the game better."

The Thunder shot a season-low 40.3 percent, though coach Scott Brooks isn't ready to panic because of one sub-par game.

"(Losing) one game out of six isn't the end of the world," Brooks said. "They played much better than us throughout. It wasn't our night. They shot better than us, and we missed shots we normally make."

Portland didn't fare much better in its loss, committing 21 turnovers in a 93-88 defeat to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. The Blazers (3-1) averaged 106.3 points in their first three games.

Coach Nate McMillan said Portland played too individualistic at times, especially through the first three quarters when it fell behind by 17 and couldn't recover.

"Offensively, we did not execute," McMillan told the team's official website. "In the fourth quarter we started to get our spacing and playing together and we ended up having a big quarter.

"We are trying to win big-time basketball here and it is going to take a total commitment from everybody on the team."

The Blazers have turned the ball over at an alarming rate the past two games, a big concern for McMillian with solid teams like the Thunder and Lakers on Thursday coming up on the schedule.

"We are turning the ball over like crazy," McMillan said. "Forty-six turnovers in the last two games. We want to play fast but we do not want to play in a hurry. You can't win games turning the ball over 21 times."

Jamal Crawford scored a team-high 23 points off the bench after netting 22 in a win over Denver on Thursday. The offseason acquisition scored 18 points combined in his first two games.

"I am just getting more comfortable," Crawford said. "The more aggressive I am not just shooting the ball but making plays should help the team."

Portland seeks to spoil Oklahoma City's bid to win its first four home games since beginning 9-0 in 2004, when the franchise was the Seattle SuperSonics.

The Thunder have won the last two meetings at home. Russell Westbrook scored 36 points and Durant added 34 in a 110-108 win Nov. 12, 2010, and Westbrook scored 28 in a 99-90 victory March 27.

The Blazers won the most recent overall meeting 98-91 on April 1, as LaMarcus Aldridge scored 32 points to help end Portland's three-game skid in the series.

Blazers shut down Thunder in 2nd half, win 103-93

By JEFF LATZKE
Posted Jan 04 2012 12:05AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Even after losing All-Star Brandon Roy to an injury-induced early retirement, look who's on top of the Western Conference early on this NBA season: The Portland Trail Blazers.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and eight rebounds and Portland clamped down on Oklahoma City in the second half to knock the Thunder from the top spot in the West with a 103-93 victory on Tuesday night.

The Blazers are the only team in the West without two losses this season.

"We've got a lot of players that can do a lot of different things," said Wesley Matthews, who added 16 points.

"You can't replace Brandon Roy, with all of the things that he did for this organization and the community itself. But we've got a lot of guys that can play and are willing to."

Gerald Wallace contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds for Portland, which held Oklahoma City to 34 percent shooting in the second half to push ahead on an off night for All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

The Thunder were held to only 40 points on 13-for-38 shooting in the second half after making 51 percent of their shots and leading most of the first half.

"That's good. That's the way we're capable of playing," said Raymond Felton, who had 12 points, seven assists and only one turnover.

"I feel like if we play like that every night, or at least try to, we'll have a good season."

James Harden made his sixth career start in place of Thabo Sefolosha (flu-like symptoms) and led the way for the Thunder with 23 points. Westbrook had 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting and Durant finished with 19 points while hitting 8 of 26 shots.

Oklahoma City started the season 5-0 before losing for the second straight night.

"I think sometimes you need losses to remind you that you've got to get better," Nick Collison said. "You wish it wasn't like that. You wish you could always realize the need to improve but human nature, sometimes you get a little lax when you're winning."

Neither team led by more than seven until the fourth quarter, when Portland started to inch away.

Nicolas Batum and Felton hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, and Batum added another from the right wing just before the shot clock expired to bump the Blazers' advantage up to 92-82 with 5:55 remaining.

Wallace countered a couple easy buckets by Westbrook by backing in against Durant for a pair of layups, and Aldridge's 19-footer from the top of the key put Portland up 98-86 with 2:46 to play.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks called a timeout but his team couldn't mount a rally. Felton all but sealed it when he missed a layup with 45 seconds left but came out with the offensive rebound and hit two foul shots to make it 100-91.

"It just tells us one thing - that we have to get better," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. "We have to keep improving, but our guys understand that. They understand that this is not the final product that you will see."

Aldridge and Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins were both called for technical fouls after Perkins slammed his shoulder into Aldridge following a rebound. The two were quickly separated by teammates before the conflict escalated.

Portland, which also already won at Denver, also grabbed an early advantage in the Northwest Division race.

"You want to win every division game you can," Matthews said. "No matter how early it is, it's a good win."

The Thunder led for most of the first half, when their shots were falling - except for Durant's. Collison had back-to-back layups to finish the first quarter, and Harden's 3-pointer from the right wing in the opening minutes of the second quarter gave Oklahoma City its largest lead of the game at 32-25.

Aldridge went to work bringing the Trail Blazers back, scoring eight points after the midway point of the second quarter to cut the deficit down to 53-51 by halftime.

He also had a two-handed slam off of a Marcus Camby alley-oop and also had a right-handed dunk during a 13-4 run that gave Portland a 74-67 lead in the final 3 minutes of the third quarter. The Blazers wouldn't trail again.

Matthews said that Aldridge told the team at halftime that the game was like the high-scoring Rose Bowl between Oregon and Wisconsin.

"The first team to play defense was going to win the game. It might as well have been us," Matthews said.

Durant made only three of his first 11 shots and it never really got better. After he hit consecutive shots to end the first half, he went 3-for-13 in the second half. Westbrook was 5-for-15 before making his last three attempts of the game.

"I'm a scorer, so I can't get down on one game," said Durant, the two-time scoring champion. "I can't let it snowball to the next."

Collison said the Thunder, who set out this season trying to improve on their assist numbers despite being one of the league's highest-scoring teams last season, need to move the ball and play better together.

"It seems like we're 40 feet from the basket trying to create something a lot," he said. "Our overall offense needs to get better."

NOTES: Durant was named the Western Conference player of the week for the first week of the season, averaging 27.4 points as the Thunder started the season 5-0. ... Portland had a 46-40 edge on the boards and has outrebounded all five of its opponents this season. The Blazers had only nine turnovers after committing 46 in their previous two games. ... Oklahoma City had been 20-6 after losses last season, but lost in its first bounce back game this season.

Notebook: Trail Blazers 103, Thunder 93

By Randy Renner, for NBA.com
Posted Tuesday January 3, 2012 11:52PM

THE FACTS: With everything that had been said and written about the Oklahoma City Thunder, the popular pick to win the Western Conference, the Portland Trail Blazers came into OKC Tuesday night saying, "hey what about us?" They left with a 103-93 win over the Thunder and first place in the Northwest Division.

Power forward LaMarcus Aldridge led all scorers with 30 points also pulling down eight rebounds. Wesley Matthews added 16 and Gerald Wallace had 13 on just 4-for-14 shooting.

Thunder forward Kevin Durant struggled through a tough night shooting the ball (8-for-26 overall and 1-for-7 on 3-pointers) but still finished with 19. Durant didn't get to the free throw line much either (2-for-4). James Harden, starting in place of an ill Thabo Sefolosha, led Oklahoma City with 23 points while handing out six assists. Point guard Russell Westbrook had one of his best games so far this season with 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

The Trail Blazers took much better care of the basketball, turning it over just nine times. They came in having given it away 46 times over their previous two games.

QUOTABLE: "We played with an attitude tonight and did a good job on (Durant). We made it tough on him and we wanted to make him work on defense."
--Blazers coach Nate McMillan

THE STAT: The Trail Blazers were aggressive on both ends of the floor but especially on offense. OKC was whistled for 22 fouls send Portland to the line 36 times (29 makes). Oklahoma City got to the line only 21 times making just 16.

TURNING POINT: Oklahoma City led for much of the first half but things started to turn Portland's way in the third quarter. The Blazers outscored OKC 27-21 to take a 78-74 lead. The Thunder were outscored 16-6 in the paint in the third quarter and shot just 35.3 percent.

QUOTABLE II: "We could have played better in the third quarter, but they're a good team. They're right there with us. LaMarcus (Aldridge) had a good night going and we didn't do a good enough job of stopping him. We'll figure out ways to get better."
--Thunder coach Scott Brooks

HOT: Thunder point guard Westbrook hit three of his first four shots...Harden was 5-for-6, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, in the first 22 minutes of the game...Oklahoma City scored 13 fast break points in the first half on 6-for-6 shooting...Portland forward Aldridge was 6-for-10 in the first half and guard Matthews was 4-for-4...Westbrook was 3-for-4 in the fourth quarter scoring nine points.

NOT: Durant missed eight of his first ten...Portland shot just 31.3% (5-for-16) in the first quarter...Blazers forward Wallace was 1-for-5 in the first 24 minutes...Durant was 1-for-5 in the fourth quarter...Wallace was 2-for-7 in the final 12 minutes. In the fourth quarter the Thunder shot 33.3% (7-for-21) and the Blazers were worse -- just 30 percent on 6-for-20.

GOOD MOVE: Brooks has been preaching to his team about making the extra pass to let the ball find a good shot. OKC demonstrated that a few times tonight. Midway through the first quarter Nick Collison had the ball on the right wing, passed out front to Harden who then passed to a driving Westbrook. Westbrook then passed out to the left corner to Durant, who dribbled to his right and hit an open 15-footer.

GOOD MOVE TOO: Thunder guard Harden picked off a bounce pass from Matthews, then threaded the needle between two defenders with a 40-foot pass to a streaking Durant for a slam.

BAD MOVE: Halfway through the third quarter Thunder forward Serge Ibaka lets Portland's Aldridge get behind him as Ibaka came out to help on Marcus Camby. Camby then hits the wide-open Aldridge for an alley-oop slam.

NOTABLE: Oklahoma City is off the next couple of days before its only back-to-back-to-back set of the season coming up this weekend. The Thunder will host the Rockets on Friday, fly to Houston to play the Rockets again on Saturday then back home to host the Spurs on Sunday.

UP NEXT: For the Trail Blazers, Thursday vs. Lakers, Friday @ Phoenix, Sunday vs. Cavaliers. For the Thunder, Friday vs. Rockets, Saturday @ Houston, Sunday vs. Spurs.

• Trail Blazers: Johnson, Oden
• Thunder: Reid, Sefolosha

• Trail Blazers: Aldridge
• Thunder: Brooks, Perkins

• Lead Changes: 7
• Times Tied: 9

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #24 Mike Callahan, #61 Courtney Kirkland, #50 Olandis Poole
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:18