OKC Snaps Skid against Trail Blazers

Thunder rally back from 13 down to take 107-106 overtime victory.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 12:01 pm

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Nov 5, 2010 10:40 AM CDT

Grant Belcher
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. – Oklahoma City couldn’t have picked a better time to snap out of its slump.

Down double digits in the third quarter, the Thunder rallied back to force overtime and defeat the division rival Trailblazers 107-106 on Thursday.

The late game, which started at 9:30 central time, spilled over into Friday morning for OKC fans as the teams traded baskets throughout the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Thunder led the game early thanks to scoring bursts from the usual suspects – Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

Westbrook had 10 first-quarter points, including four free throws, to give his team a six-point lead at the end of the first quarter. He was 10-of-10 from the free throw line in the game.

However, the Trail Blazers rallied back and took a seven-point lead going into halftime.

In the third quarter, Oklahoma City appeared destined for its third straight blowout loss as the Blazers increased their lead to 13 toward the end of the third.

But the Thunder scrapped their way back into it, going on a 19-6 run to tie the game at 81 in the fourth.

At the end of regulation, Portland’s Andre Miller hit an easy layup to put his team up 100-98 with 10 seconds remaining.

Kevin Durant missed a jumper to tie the game, but forward Serge Ibaka was right there for the tip-in to send the game to overtime. Ibaka finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

OKC relied on its free throw shooting (5-of-5 in overtime) to seal the victory. The Thunder were 92 percent from the line as a team (24-26).

Durant and Westbrook each finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds for OKC.

The win not only pulled the Thunder out of a mini-slump, but also gave them an always-important win over another Northwest Division team.

Oklahoma City (3-2) will host the Boston Celtics at 7 p.m. Sunday evening in the Oklahoma City Arena.