Trail Blazers at Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder have put a painful losing streak in the past and now look to string together back-to-back wins when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday afternoon. The Thunder dropped both ends of a difficult road trip to Cleveland and San Antonio by a combined 28 points, then returned home to lose by 28 against Chicago.
It was the worst home loss of the season for Oklahoma City, which then righted the ship Friday against Memphis behind Russell Westbrook. The superstar scored 38 points while recording his 25th triple-double of the season in the 114-102 win as the Thunder improved to 13-2 at home against Western Conference opponents. They are just 6-11 on the road versus the West, however - including a 114-95 loss at Portland on Dec. 13, when Westbrook was held to 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. The Trail Blazers finished a 3-2 homestand Friday with a 108-104 loss to Dallas and now play six of their next eight on the road.
TV: 3 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), FSN Oklahoma
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (22-29): Leading scorer Damian Lillard is in a bit of a shooting slump, with just one game of 50 percent or better over the last 13 - including a 4-of-20 effort against Dallas. Veteran Evan Turner stepped up with a season-high 24 points while C.J. McCollum recorded 28 for the second time in three games. Ed Davis (wrist) returned from a five-game layoff to contribute five points off the bench while Mason Plumlee saw his string of double-digit rebounding games end at seven as he grabbed nine boards.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (29-22): Westbrook's latest gem included 13 rebounds and 12 assists, and he needs one more triple-double to tie Oscar Robertson (26 in 1960-61 and 1963-64) for the third-highest single-season total in NBA history, but coach Billy Donovan feels that almost takes away from the All-Star guard's true value. "People write so much about his triple-doubles, his numbers, his stats, his minutes, his usage and all that other stuff, but I really think people miss it," Donovan told reporters. "They really miss it. Those things are remarkable and incredible and I'm not undervaluing what he's done statistically, but it's the constant awareness of what's going on in the game. It's surveying things. It's recognizing what's happening." Center Steven Adams has registered three of his 10 double-doubles over the last six games after collecting 16 points and 13 boards versus Memphis.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Westbrook averages 31.4 points, 11.3 assists and 10.8 rebounds at home.
2. Plumlee led six Trail Blazers in double figures with 18 points in the win over Oklahoma City earlier this season.
3. Adams has grabbed 31 rebounds over his last three games, with 19 of them coming on the offensive end.