Trail Blazers-Thunder Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Mar 17 2012 2:49PM

The Portland Trail Blazers knocked off one of the best teams in the NBA in interim coach Kaleb Canales' first game at the helm.

Kicking off his career with back-to-back victories could prove even more difficult with a road game against Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City up next - even with the Thunder surprisingly struggling a bit on their own court.

The recently overhauled Trail Blazers conclude a seven-game road trip Sunday night against Oklahoma City, which after dominating opponents at home for much of the season has dropped three of four there.

A 121-79 rout at the hands of New York on Wednesday proved to be the final straw for coach Nate McMillan, who was fired the following day after six-plus seasons with the team. Portland continued to shake things up by sending former All-Star Gerald Wallace to New Jersey and center Marcus Camby to Houston for Mehmet Okur, Shawne Williams, Jonny Flynn, Hasheem Thabeet and a couple of draft picks.

At least for one game, the moves appeared to work, as the Blazers (21-23) won 100-89 at league-leading Chicago on Friday.

"Just a special time for us as a team, as an organization, as a family. All the credit goes to the guys in that locker room for helping to get it," Canales said. "Obviously a special win with everything that's been going on. I've very blessed and fortunate to get this great opportunity, very humbling."

Portland limited a Bulls team missing Derrick Rose to a season-low 10 points in the fourth quarter, handing them just their fourth home loss.

"Whenever you can see a young guy get an opportunity to be a head coach, you definitely want to go out there and get a win for him," said forward Kurt Thomas, who at 39 is five years older than Canales.

The Thunder (33-11) have also only lost four home games, one of them coming to Portland by a 103-93 score Jan. 3. The other three, however, have come in a one-week span.

Oklahoma City's second straight home defeat came by a 114-105 score to San Antonio on Friday. The Thunder, who trailed by as many as 27 in the second quarter, were outrebounded 49-37 and outscored 54-36 in the paint.

"We can't be relaxed because we're at home. Just because we're at home, we're not going to win games," said forward Kevin Durant, who scored 25 points.

"We've just got to come out with a sense of urgency, play harder and we'll be all right."

Russell Westbrook scored 36 while Serge Ibaka had 12 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks.

Oklahoma City also fell 104-103 to visiting Houston on Tuesday. The Thunder haven't dropped three straight at home since a six-game skid March 18-April 7, 2009, in their first season since relocating from Seattle.

"(Our home crowd) does a great job of encouraging us, they should have booed us in the first half (Friday) but they didn't," Durant said. "They kept us in it. We owe them a lot. It's tough to lose in front of them like that but we got another game coming up here soon."

The Thunder took the most recent meeting in this series, overcoming a season-high 39 points from LaMarcus Aldridge in a controversial 111-107 overtime road win Feb. 6. Durant scored 33 and made a tying layup with 6 seconds left in regulation that came on a questionable goaltending call on Aldridge.

It's uncertain when Flynn and Thabeet will debut for the Blazers. Okur - acquired largely for his expiring contract - and Williams are expected to miss the rest of the season due to injury.

The Thunder's Daequan Cook (right shoulder soreness) is uncertain to be available after sitting out Friday.

Thunder back on track at home, beat Blazers

Posted Mar 19 2012 1:39AM

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) After losing three of their last four games at home, the Oklahoma City Thunder went to work on restoring their home-court dominance.

Russell Westbrook scored 28 points, Kevin Durant had 26 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and the Thunder played what coach Scott Brooks called one of their best defensive quarters of the season while beating the Portland Trail Blazers 111-95 on Sunday night.

James Harden added 14 points for Oklahoma City, which moved to 10-1 this season in the game immediately following a loss. The Thunder had lost at home to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

The Thunder shot 55.4 percent from the field, led by double digits for most of the final 39 minutes and improved their record to 34-11, best in the NBA's Western Conference.

"We really couldn't get into our normal rhythm, but I thought our energy was good enough to win the game," Brooks said.

Jamal Crawford led Portland with 23 points while Raymond Felton had 19.

Oklahoma City opened the season with a 17-1 mark at Chesapeake Energy Arena, but its recent home slump had caused some to wonder if the Thunder might be vulnerable, even if they earned home-court advantage in the postseason, something Westbrook alluded to after the game.

"It's going to be very important in the playoffs to be able to take the home court in the playoffs and get some wins," Westbrook said.

On Friday, San Antonio led the Thunder by 27 points before a late rally by Oklahoma City. On Sunday, Oklahoma City allowed the Blazers only 15 points in the first quarter while racing to a double-digit lead of its own.

"The first quarter was really, really good," Brooks said. ".Holding that team to 15 points, just the way we played, the mindset that we had going into the game was good, then we kind of relaxed. The rest of the game wasn't as good, but we started the game off good defensively and we rebounded the ball pretty well."

Portland closed within 84-76 with 10:20 left, but Harden made five straight free throws to start a 13-6 run. Durant's 3-pointer with 6:51 left put the Thunder up 97-82 and Portland came no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.

Oklahoma City's lone home loss during the 17-1 stretch was to the Blazers, but that Portland squad bore little resemblance to the lineup it fielded on Sunday.

Sunday's game was the second for Portland since firing coach Nate McMillan, waiving former No. 1 draft pick Greg Oden and trading starters Gerald Wallace and Marcus Camby on Thursday. On Friday, the new-look Blazers posted an improbable 100-89 win at Chicago under 34-year-old interim coach Kaleb Canales, but they couldn't replicate that effort in Oklahoma City.

"They're the best team in the West for a reason," Canales said. "They're very good at home. We just couldn't put consecutive sequences of runs together and (the Thunder) did a very good job of responding."

The Thunder never trailed. Oklahoma City closed the first quarter on a 21-5 run, scoring the final 10 points, to take a 31-15 lead. Oklahoma City led by as many as 21 in the second quarter before settling for a 57-42 halftime lead.

Portland closed within 75-63 with 2:27 left in the third quarter after a 3-pointer by Crawford, who scored all but four of his points after halftime and kept the Blazers within striking distance.

Crawford missed another 3-point attempt moments later that would have pulled the Blazers within 10 points. The Thunder quickly rebuilt their advantage to 81-63 on a 3-pointer by Harden, but Portland went on a 13-3 run before Oklahoma City finally pulled away.

"We gave up a 31-point quarter and we came back and we responded," Canales said. "We knew they were going to come out aggressive, especially after a home loss. We talked about withstanding that first punch and I think we probably could have scored a little more and not dug ourselves so deep of a hole."

Wesley Matthews added 16 points for Portland while LaMarcus Aldridge had 15 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Thabo Sefolosha scored 11 for the Thunder, going 3 of 3 from 3-point range. The Thunder finished 11 of 18 (61.1 percent) from behind the arc.

NOTES: Harden jammed his left index finger while making a steal in the first quarter. A trainer taped up the finger and Harden played the rest of the game. . The Thunder posted their 37th straight regular-season sellout, with a crowd of 18,203 at Chesapeake Energy Arena . Portland center Hasheem Thabeet, obtained from the Houston Rockets in the trade involving Camby, was not with the Blazers on Sunday . Crawford and Portland's Kurt Thomas both received technical fouls.

Notebook: Thunder 111, Trail Blazers 95

Posted Monday March 19, 2012 1:17AM

By Randy Renner, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: The Oklahoma City Thunder used a big first quarter and big time performances from Russell Westbrook (28 points) and Kevin Durant (26 points) to cruise past the Portland Trail Blazers 111-95. The Thunder led by 16 at the end of the first quarter and by as many as 21 in the first half. Oklahoma City never trailed though the lead got down to just eight points in the fourth quarter. Durant was 4-for-5 on 3-pointers and also grabbed seven rebounds, handed out six assists, stole the ball three times and blocked a shot. Westbrook was 12-for-21 and 2-for-3 from long range.

James Harden had 14 points. He was just 1-for-7 from the field but 11-for-14 at the free throw line. Backup point guard Jamal Crawford led Portland with 23 points. Starting point guard Raymond Felton had 19 on 6-for-10 shooting and Wesley Matthews added 16. Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge had 15 but it took him 19 shots to get there.

QUOTABLE: "It was important for us to get off to a good start, we came out with a mindset of toughness. Our first quarter was really good, probably one of our best defensive quarters this season and then we kinda relaxed."
-- Thunder head coach Scott Brooks.

THE STAT: OKC outscored Portland 31-15 in the first quarter, holding the Blazers to just 26.1 percent shooting. The rest of the game was played even up, 80 points from both teams.

QUOTABLE II: "We gave up a 31-point quarter and then we came back and responded. We knew they were going to come out aggressive, especially after (Friday's loss). They're the best team in the West for a reason."
-- Trail Blazers interim head coach Kaleb Canales.

TURNING POINT: That big first quarter provided the cushion the Thunder used for the rest of the game. Oklahoma City didn't allow the lead to get below 12 points until the fourth quarter when Portland cut it to eight briefly before the Thunder got it back to double digits.

QUOTABLE III: "We did a good job getting that good start. I liked our pace, we did a good job pushing the ball. We just have to stay focused."
-- Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook.

HOT: Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha, known as a defensive specialist, started the game 3-for-3 (two from long range) for eight points...Oklahoma City was 11-for-18 on 3-pointers...Durant, Westbrook and Sefolosha were a combined 9-for-11 on threes.

NOT: Portland shot just 26.1 percent (6-for-23) in the first quarter and scored 15 points...The Blazers were 2-for-10 (20 percent) on 3-pointers in the first 24 minutes...OKC's Harden missed all four of his shots (three from long range) in the first half and finished 1-for-7 from the field...The Thunder shot an abysmal 46.2 percent (6-for-13) from the free throw line in the first half and finished 18-for-28 (64.3 percent) at the stripe.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Another sell-out crowd inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City has sold out 37 consecutive regular season games.

GOOD MOVE: After slow starts and bad finishes recently at home the Thunder began the game with a lot of energy and active hands on defense. Portland didn't get many open looks. On offense OKC had both its inside and outside game working Sunday night.

NOTABLE: Oklahoma City is now 10-1 this season in games following a loss. That's second in the NBA this season (Chicago 10-0). Over the last two seasons the Thunder is 30-7 in bounce back games...This is the 42nd game this season that Durant has scored at least 20 points and the 31st game that Westbrook has done it...The Trail Blazers expect both newly acquired point guard Jonny Flynn and center Hasheem Thabeet to be available Tuesday night against Milwaukee.

UP NEXT: For the Trail Blazers, Tuesday vs. Milwaukee, Thursday vs. Memphis, Friday @ LA Lakers. For the Thunder, Tuesday @ Utah, Wednesday vs. LA Clippers, Friday vs. Minnesota.

• Trail Blazers: Okur, Williams, Williams
• Thunder: Maynor, Reid

• Trail Blazers: Crawford, Thomas
• Thunder: --

• Lead Changes: 0
• Times Tied: 1

• Arena: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
• Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #56 Mark Ayotte, #68 Marat Kogut
• Attendance: 18203
• Duration: 2:18