Westbrook scores 42 as Thunder roll past Blazers
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Russell Westbrook scored 42 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 105-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Westbrook hit 16 of 34 from the field to go along with eight assists and four rebounds. Victor Oladipo added 24 points and 13 boards. Andre Robertson may have had his best game of the season with 11 rebounds and 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting to help Oklahoma City move to 30-22.
Portland was led by Damian Lillard, who scored 29 points on 9 of 22 shooting. CJ McCollum posted 19 points and eight rebounds as the Trail Blazers fell to 22-30.
With the game tied at 85-85, Westbrook knocked down back to back jumpers in transition to give Oklahoma City an 89-85 lead and 5:37 on the clock.
Portland wasted an offensive possession and Westbrook made them pay with another midrange jumper. After Oladipo made a pair of free throws, the Thunder lead was up to eight points.
Mason Plumlee and Al-Farouq Aminu broke the scoring drought and closed gap to 94-90. McCullum drained a 3-pointer and Oklahoma City's lead was only three points.
After Portland got a defensive stop, they had a chance to close to at least within one. But they turned the ball over and it led to a pair of Oladipo free throws.
Lillard was forced into an off balanced shot, which he missed. The Thunder got the rebound and Westbrook took over. With Aminu guarding him, he faked right at the top of the key, and came back left. Aminu got turned around and headed toward the basket. Westbrook was still standing behind the arc and calmly buried a 3-pointer to push the Thunder lead to seven. As he went back up court he was stomping on the court and yelling "Where are you going?"
That pretty much closed out the game. The Thunder made their free throws to put the contest to bed.
The Thunder outrebounded the Blazers 56-44.
NOTES: Oklahoma City F Alex Abrines returned to the lineup after missing two games with back spasms. There was no minute restriction. "He was in here earlier this morning and did some light work," Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. "I had a chance to visit with Alex yesterday and spend some time with him after practice. It was still bothering him a little bit, He didn't know where he would be at today, but he was improving." ... Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts said he was pulling for Atlanta to win the Super Bowl because they are the underdogs. ... Donovan likes what he has been getting from F Joffrey Lauvergne, but he wants more from him. "The biggest thing for Joffrey that I would like to see out of him more is consistency," Donovan said. "The consistency of playing well game after game after game. It's not so much the scoring. We need him to be consistent and I think he is more than capable of that."