Short-Handed Thunder Struggle To Score In Big Loss To Portland

Five Portland players scored at least 14 points as the Trailblazers put together a dominant 114-95 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.

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Russell Westbrook scored 20 points to go with six rebounds and six assists, but without the services of Victor Oladipo due to injury, OKC’s offense struggled to get much going as Portland pulled away early and never looked back.

The Thunder looked fresh and efficient early in the game as OKC went up 20-11 after an Enes Kanter put-back, but things quickly went south.

Westbrook went to the bench for a breather with the Thunder holding a 27-21 lead late in the first, but the Blazers closed the quarter on an 11-to-2 run, and by the time Westbrook checked back in OKC was suddenly staring at a 41-34 deficit.

Despite plenty of time remaining in the game, OKC’s offense was way out of whack as Portland kept scoring more points. Without Oladipo, the Thunder lacked floor spacers and struggled to knock down shots from the outside as Andre Roberson and Jerami Grant played heavy minutes at the wing positions.

The Trailblazers extended their lead to 68-52 at halftime and the Thunder never got closer than 16 points the rest of the way.

Steven Adams scored 14 points to go with four rebounds and four steals while Grant added 11 points. Mason Plumlee led the Blazers with 19 points while Damian Lillard added 18. 

OKC will be back in action on Wednesday night in Utah against the Jazz at 8 p.m.