The Portland Trail Blazers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 98-95 Tuesday night. The Blazers now have a record of 36-16, while having a home record of 19-6. The Thunder now improve to 42-12 on the season and now have a 19-9 record on the road.
This game lived up to the hype. In what was the final matchup between these two teams in the regular season, both teams played like it was a playoff game. Kevin Durant can say what he wants about it not feeling like a playoff game, but the crowd was electric and the players were playing with an extra edge. Unfortunately, the Blazers got the bad end as they were unable to get the win. In what is not shocking, the season series is now tied at 2-2. A big time performance by Jeremy Lamb and the usual dominance and disgusting play of Kevin Durant ultimately led the Thunder to victory in nail-biting fashion.
Portland came out swinging in the first half outscoring the Thunder 55-45. If I were to tell you that despite having poor, poor shooting nights from Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Aldridge the Blazers would be up by 10 behind the play of C.J. McCollum at halftime, you would probably laugh. That is exactly what happened, however. McCollum went 3-for-3 in the second quarter including two three-pointers. McCollum’s defense and court vision, in my opinion, are underrated. He still needs to work on bringing the ball up and running a team, but he seems to already have a knack for finding the open man. He is also such a calm shooter for a rookie. The two made three-pointers in the second quarter were a thing of beauty. He took his time and made sure he wasn’t rushing into shooting it. Some rookies tend to speed up and try to do too much, while C.J. seems to be taking things in stride, which I love seeing. The second half was not as kind to C.J. as he was just 1-for-7. Some of those shots were right on the money and just didn’t fall in, while others did feel a little rushed. I will say that his mid-range floater is impressive. He seems to make that shot now with confidence and consistency. I will say it again, do not trade him.
The second half was all Thunder. OKC outscored the Blazers by 10 in the third quarter to take an 80-80 tie to the fourth quarter. What, you were expecting a blowout? Then the offense betrayed the Blazers once again. The Blazers only made five shots from the floor in the fourth quarter. Scary thing was that OKC also only made five shots from the floor except that one happened to be a killer three-point shot from Jeremy Lamb. The Blazers tried to answer back and had ample opportunities to really blow this game wide open. The Blazers held OKC scoreless for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter while clinging to a four-point lead. Missed shots by McCollum and Matthews and costly turnovers allowed OKC to still have a shot in this game. Imagine if Portland had scored on half of those possessions. Two of those misses were three-pointers that went in and out. The Blazers would have had a 10-point lead and a little more breathing room. Even with all the mistakes and the fact that OKC took the lead at the end of the quarter, the Blazers still had an opportunity to steal the game away as Durant turned the ball over on an inbounds pass. With 0:12 remaining, the Blazers had around the perfect amount of time to set up and play and execute. LA got a great mid-range look that he normally swishes, but it didn’t go in.
What is frustrating about this game is that Durant didn’t beat the Blazers. The Blazers did. Yes, Durant did finish the night with 36 points on 15-for-28 shooting, but he was just 2-for-9 in the fourth quarter. The Blazers just fell victim to a good old-fashioned cold spell. OKC only scored 18 points in the quarter. If the Blazers just made a couple of more buckets, this would be a different story. However, I will say that the Blazers defense was solid. The third quarter was a rough patch, but I was really impressed with the fourth quarter. To have Durant only make two out of nine shots is pretty impressive and the one silver lining that can be taken from this loss.
Finally, with the season series over, the next time these teams meet will be in the playoffs if the Blazers were to advance. Seeing how these games have played out with and without Westbrook that would be a series to watch.
The Blazers went 7-for-23 from beyond the arc and shot just 30%. The only Blazers to be effective from three-point land were Batum and McCollum who combined went 6-for-11. The rest of the team was 1-for-12.
The Blazers went just 32-for-85 from the field and shot 38%. Again, the massive dry spells in the offense continue to come into play.
The Thunder shot a blistering 50% from three and shot just shy of 50% from the field.
LaMarcus Aldridge recorded yet another bad shooting night as he finished with just 12 points on 5-for-22 shooting and had 12 rebounds. He is apparently dealing with a groin injury and that could be affecting his shot. He just needs some rest.
Lillard finished with 16 points on 5-for-15 shooting, 1-for-7 from three and had 7 assists. Not a great shooting night, but not a bad line overall. Lillard only had one turnover to his 7 assists. Interest stat, four out of the five starting Blazers recorded a positive +/- including LA.
The Blazers are also getting their first brush with injuries as Joel Freeland went down early in the game and had to be helped off the court. An MRI revealed a sprained MCL and he will side-lined for 4-8 weeks. That’s a bigger blow than people think. With the trade deadline looming, I wonder how this will change things.
No time to pout as the Blazers will take on the Los Angeles Clippers in LA tomorrow at the Staples Center at 7:30 p.m. PST. This will be the final game before the all-star break. The Blazers look like they need a break and recharge. This break could not have come at a better time. With the Clippers nipping at the Blazers’ heels in the Western Conference standings, this will be a big game and, arguably, a bigger one than the OKC game. Stay tuned!