Thunder at Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers snapped a 10-game playoff losing streak in taking Game 1 from the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, but they're not getting overly excited about one victory. The third-seeded Trail Blazers will try to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series when they host the sixth-seeded Thunder on Tuesday.
"Last year we didn’t win a game, this year we did," Portland star point guard Damian Lillard told reporters. "We've gone two playoffs without winning a game, so obviously it's a good feeling to get back on the winning side. It's only one game. That's all it is. We know how it feels to win a game and now we can just kind of move on from that and stay focused on this series." Lillard led the way with 30 points and CJ McCollum added 24 in the 104-99 Game 1 triumph. Oklahoma City fell behind by as many as 19 points before battling back on Sunday and is not getting down about dropping Game 1. "It's a series, the first to four. They won the first game," Thunder All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook told reporters. "That's a part of the series, make adjustments, come back, play harder the next game and try to take care of business."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, FS Oklahoma, NBCS Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE THUNDER: Westbrook recorded his customary triple-double with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on Sunday and Paul George added 26 points and 10 boards but Oklahoma City went 5-of-33 from beyond the arc. "We were well-balanced on offense in terms of shots we got, we got downhill, we got to the front of the rim, we scored points in the paint and I thought we got really good open looks, but listen, we just didn't shoot the ball particularly well from behind the 3-point line," coach Billy Donovan told reporters. Westbrook and fellow point guard Dennis Schroder combined to go 0-of-11 from 3-point range while George was 4-of-15.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS: Portland was counted out as a threat in the West when center Jusuf Nurkic went down with a season-ending broken leg late last month but Enes Kanter is stepping up in his absence, even on the defensive end. Known as a sub-par defender in the middle, Kanter, who finished with 20 points and 18 rebounds on Sunday, drew raves for his work on that end Sunday. "I think Enes has really been good for us defensively," Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts told reporters. "He gives great effort. He wants to do what we want to do. One-on-one against Steven Adams, he can hold his own on the block. Pick-and-roll defense, he gives good effort, he's communicating, so as a coach all you can ask for is that a player is giving effort, trying to do what you want him to do. Enes has been like that from Day One with us."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Trail Blazers recorded nine blocks in Game 1, with SF Maurice Harkless and PF Al-Farouq Aminu recording three each.
2. Lillard hit a game-high five 3-pointers on Sunday.
3. Oklahoma City SF Jerami Grant recorded four blocks in Game 1.