Trail Blazers at Thunder
THE STORY: Portland will try to play giant slayer for the second straight night. After winning at Chicago in interim coach Kaleb Canales’ debut, the Trail Blazers play in Oklahoma City on Sunday night. The Thunder are 18-4 at home, but have lost three of four home games. “Just because we're at home, we're not going to (automatically) win games,” said Kevin Durant. “So we have to come out with a sense of urgency, play harder and we'll be all right.”
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (21-23): Just 24 hours after cleaning house by firing coach Nate McMillan and trading Gerald Wallace and Marcus Camby, the Trail Blazers enjoyed their biggest win of the season over the Bulls. “That was the most fun I've ever had in an NBA game,” LaMarcus Aldridge said. Australian guard Patty Mills is a free agent after the Portland renounced its rights to him. Mills played in China but was cut because of a hamstring injury. He reportedly will sign with San Antonio.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (33-11): In a 114-105 loss to San Antonio on Friday night, the Thunder trailed by as many as 27 in the second quarter and were outscored 54-36 in the paint. “This is not a season-ending loss or nothing like that,” said Russell Westbrook, who scored 36. The loss could hurt, though, because the Spurs own the tiebreaker for winning the season series. The Thunder assigned forward Lazar Hayward to their NBA Development League affiliate in Tulsa on Saturday for the second time this month.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. The Thunder haven’t dropped three straight at home since a six-game skid March 18-April 7, 2009.
2. This game starts a rough week for the Thunder, who play at Utah on Tuesday and return home for games against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, Minnesota on Friday and Miami on Sunday.
3. At age 34, Canales is the youngest head coach in the league.