Damian Lillard said following the Portland Trail Blazers’ 127-109 loss to Milwaukee on Friday night that the team couldn’t dwell on the lopsided defeat and allow it to cause them to become unfocused and lose Saturday night against Oklahoma City.
There clearly was little chance of that happening. The Blazers poured it on the young, rebuilding Thunder, winning 133-85 in a game that was essentially over midway through the third quarter.
The Blazers forced 22 turnovers and shot 49% from the field while making 20 of 46 threes (43.5%). CJ McCollum led the Blazers with 20 points. Enes Kanter came off the bench for 12 points and 17 rebounds.
“We have a couple of tough games coming up on the road and it was good to have a game like this for sure,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said.
The Blazers have two days off before playing Tuesday at the Los Angeles Clippers (32-18) and then Thursday at the Utah Jazz (38-11).
“The Clippers are a tough team on the road,” Stotts said. “I don’t know if this will necessarily carry over, but it was good to bounce back from the Milwaukee game and play a good defensive game and allow the subs to play, all to rest some of the starters. So, in that sense, it was really good for us.”
WHAT IT MEANS
The Blazers (30-19) remained in sixth place in the Western Conference but picked up a half game on the idle Denver Nuggets (30-18).
IT WAS OVER WHEN
The Blazers, who won the season series 2-1 over the Thunder, dominated the first quarter 35-19, but won the second quarter just 30-27 to lead 65-46 at halftime. The Thunder (20-29) actually shot decently in the first half, making 43.6% of their shots including 5 of 12 threes. But 13 turnovers led to the lopsided score.
“The first quarter defensively we got off to a good start and in the second half,” Stotts said. “That really set the tone.”
The obliteration continued in the third quarter and by the 5:22 mark, the Blazers led 95-54.
“In a game like this it’s easy to let your guard down, to have some lapses, but I thought we stayed pretty focused throughout the game,” Stotts said.
MARGIN OF VICTORY RECORD?
Not quite.
Saturday night’s 48-point win tied two past performances for the second-largest wins in Blazers history. The Blazers won 124-76 at Phoenix on Oct. 18, 2017, and 121-73 over the Los Angeles Clippers on Dec. 14, 1994.
The team record is a 50-point win over Cleveland in a 129-79 game played on Nov. 21, 1982.
SHOWED UP AND SHOWED OUT
McCollum made 8 of 14 shots and 4 of 8 threes to reach 20 points.
Lillard had 16 points, six assists and three steals in 25 minutes.
Center Jusuf Nurkic, in 17 minutes, made 3 of 5 shots for nine points and had seven rebounds and four assists.
The bench players got into the action late in the game. Harry Giles III had 12 points in 16 minutes. Anfernee Simons, who saw time throughout the game, scored 16 points on 5 of 11 shooting.
Nassir Little had 13 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes.
“I was most pleased with what they did as a group defensively and maintaining the margin that we had,” Stotts said of the reserves who played late in the game.
SHOWED UP AND FIZZLED
Everyone played well for the Blazers.
The Thunder made just 8 of 34 threes (23.5%) and shot 35.3% from the field.
-- Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories
"easy" - Google News
April 04, 2021 at 11:51AM
https://ift.tt/39FOl48
Portland Trail Blazers make easy work of Oklahoma City Thunder during 133-85 victory: Game rewind - OregonLive
"easy" - Google News
https://ift.tt/38z63U6
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Portland Trail Blazers make easy work of Oklahoma City Thunder during 133-85 victory: Game rewind - OregonLive"
Post a Comment