Thunder at Trail Blazers
THE STORY:
After scoring a season high in a 117-97 rout of Denver, Portland hosts
the NBA’s best team - the Oklahoma City Thunder - on Monday. Forward
Nicolas Batum scored a career-high 33 points and set a franchise record
with nine 3-point field goals for the Trail Blazers on Saturday. Batum
had missed two games with a sore left knee. “I didn't know if I was
going to play until this morning, after shoot around,” Batum said. “I
talked with coach (Nate McMillan). I was running pretty good, so I said,
'OK, let's try it.’ I think it was a good choice.” Teammate LaMarcus
Aldridge had 29 points and nine assists. Portland tries to improve to
12-1 at home against a Thunder team that had no answer for Tony Parker
and lost 107-96 to San Antonio. Parker scored 42 points and became the
Spurs’ all-time assist leader. “They're not the top team until the end
of the season, but they're the team right now that's playing the best
basketball,” McMillan said of Oklahoma City.
TV: 10 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma (Oklahoma City), CS Northwest (Portland)
ABOUT THE THUNDER (18-5):
Guard Thabo Sefolosha missed his fourth straight game with a sore right
foot Saturday. Sefolosha is at a loss to explain why the injury is not
improving. “The tendon is still irritated,” he said. “Something with the
bone also. I don't know. It bothered me earlier this season, too.”
Sefolosha leads the Thunder in 3-point shooting percentage (48.1) after
making 13 of 27. This is the second of a five-game trip for Oklahoma
City, which completes a back-to-back at Golden State on Tuesday.
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (14-10):
Because Portland is only 3-9 on the road, its home record has been key
to staying close in the Northwest Division, the NBA’s toughest. “With us
dropping some games on the road, (we want to) continue to try and
defend home court, especially during this stretch of games,” McMillan
said. “We’ve got some top teams coming in here and another division game
coming up, so all games are important.” Portland will host Houston on
Wednesday.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Portland is averaging
105.8 points at the Rose Garden this season and has won its last five
at home by an average of 25.4 points.
2. The Thunder are 9-4 on
the road and trying to stay on pace to match a franchise-best 12-3 mark
set seven years ago when the team was based in Seattle
3. Gerald
Wallace led Portland in scoring average (26.5) against the Thunder last
season in his two appearances. Wallace scored a season-best 40 points
against Oklahoma City on March 27.