Oklahoma City Thunder versus Portland Trail Blazers preview – 03/02/17
By Chris Hughes
After a disappointing second loss in a row, the Portland Trail Blazers will be desperate for a bounce-back victory as they host the Thunder. Oklahoma City are no pushovers however, having won four games in a row. Tip-off is 10:30 PM E.T.
The OKC Thunder will look to make it a conference-high five wins a row tonight, having won all three of their games since the All-Star break.
Russell Westbrook and co. will be desperate to close the gap between themselves and the fourth seed even more, having limited it to just two wins after their win over the Utah Jazz last night.
Portland meanwhile will be desperate to shrug off their poor run of form, having lost both of their last two games and seven of their last ten. In doing so, the Trail Blazers have lost their loose grip on a potential playoff spot, with the Denver Nuggets now boasting three more wins than Terry Stotts’ side.
Damian Lillard’s team have fallen below expectations this season, with many people suggesting that the 26-year-old’s back-court combination with C.J. McCollum could lead the side to a mid-low seed. Instead they sit tenth with 23 games left to play.
No Guaranteed Victory for OKC:
The win is by far from guaranteed for the Thunder however, with the side boasting a less-than-impressive 12-17 record in road games so far this season. Billy Donovan‘s side will take hope from their 7-3 record against fellow Northwest opposition. Portland’s record in the division stands at 5-3.
The Thunder’s point average this season has steadily tilted either side of the 106 mark, with their current figure sitting at 106.3 with a plus/minus differential of 0.4. The Trail Blazers have been scoring more per game with a stellar 107.4 points per match, however they couple that with a significantly worse -2.7 plus/minus.
Check out Thunderous Intentions for more and other articles!
Previous Meetings
When comparing the two franchise’s complete game log, it makes for one of the tightest all-time records in the league.
After 226 regular-season match-ups, the Thunder boast a narrow lead with 116 wins in comparison to Portland’s 110, after their 105-99 win over the Trail Blazers last month.
Since the end of 2013, no team has one more than three games in a row against the other, with Portland having won two in a row before February’s game.
However, not long after the turn of the decade, OKC went on a run of seven-straight wins against tonight’s opposition, limiting Portland to less than a hundred points on all-bar-one occasion.
Back in December the Trail Blazers restricted the Thunder to just 95 points, scoring 114 themselves in a comfortable home victory. Furthermore, four of Portland’s starters scored double figures that night.
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Key Players and Predicted Line-ups
Russell Westbrook will hope to continue his explosive post All-Star break form, having now had two back-to-back 40-point triple-double performances.
Before that against the Los Angeles Lakers the point guard shot 18 points, 17 assists and 18 rebounds, an equally impressive T-D. Another one tonight would see Westbrook tie Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 31 in a single season.
The 28-year-old is currently 38 rebounds and 15 assists ahead of the pace to average a triple-double for the entire campaign. He couples that with a league-leading 31.2 points per game.
Victor Oladipo is expected to miss his fourth game in a row due to back spasms, but whether he’ll be missed or not is a much grayer area. In his absence Alex Abrines has averaged just over 14 points per game, bringing some stellar three-point shooting to the Thunder’s offense.
New boys Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott will hope to continue to their well-settled start to life in OKC. The former have provided strong athleticism on defense, whilst the 25-year-old McDermott shot four-of-six threes against the Jazz last night.
Predicted Starting Five:
- Point Guard: Russell Westbrook
- Shooting Guard: Alex Abrines
- Small Forward: Andre Roberson
- Power Forward: Domantas Sabonis
- Center: Steven Adams
Notable Substitutions: Taj Gibson (PF), Doug McDermott (SF), Enes Kanter (C, PF).
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Portland meanwhile will look to their duo of star guards to lead the side tonight, with Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum having collectively averaged 49.3 of Portland’s points this season. That equates to around 45.9 percent of all of the Trail Blazers’ points this year.
The former has averaged 26.0 points on his own, which is a career-high average for the 26-year-old. Lillard is also leading the Trail Blazers on assists per game, with 5.8.
The duo will be helped on their way by the newly-acquired Jusuf Nurkic, who joined the side from the Denver Nuggets before the trade deadline. The 22-year-old big man grabbed 19 points and seven boards against Detroit on Tuesday, and has averaged 13 points per game so far for the side.
Off the bench the Trail Blazers will look to Allen Crabbe for points from the second unit, with the shooting guard having averaged 10.3 points per game.
Predicted Starting Five:
- Point Guard: Damian Lillard
- Shooting Guard: C.J. McCollum
- Small Forward: Maurice Harkless
- Power Forward: Noah Vonleh
- Center: Jusuf Nurkic
Notable Subsitutes: Allen Crabbe (SG), Ed Davis (PF).
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Injuries and Game Specifics
Victor Oladipo is the only notable absentee for the Oklahoma City Thunder, with ESPN still listing the guard as unavailable. The 24-year-old hasn’t featured since the side returned from the All-Star break, with back spams forcing the former Orlando man to the sidelines.
For Portland, they will be without Evan Turner, who is yet to return from a hand injury. The 28-year-old hasn’t featured in six games.
The game is live on TNT, with an estimated tip-off time at the Moda Center of 10:30 P.M. Eastern time. As a Thunder fan you can tune in on WWLS 98.1FM OKC.
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