OKLAHOMA CITY — C.J. McCollum scored 34 points to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 108-105 on Sunday night.
Damian Lillard scored 24 points, and Jusuf Nurkic added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who swept all four games with the Thunder this season. Portland doubled its lead to games over the Thunder for third place in the Western Conference.
Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 23 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Steven Adams had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jerami Grant added 17 point.
Oklahoma City got possession trailing by two with 18.5 seconds remaining. Oklahoma City’s Carmelo Anthony got trapped in the corner and forced his way through before turning the ball over. Westbrook fouled Portland’s Al-Farouq Aminu with 7 seconds to play. Aminu made the first free throw and missed the second, giving the Thunder one more chance. Anthony missed a 3-pointer as time expired.
Oklahoma City trailed 44-29 in the second quarter before going on a 16-0 run to take the lead. Portland regrouped and led 57-52 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Portland’s Ed Davis came down on Oklahoma City guard Terrance Ferguson’s back, and Davis shoved him as the two fell toward the ground. Ferguson got up quickly and pushed Davis, and a skirmish followed. Four technical fouls were issued — to Turner and Davis for Portland and to Ferguson and Westbrook for the Thunder. Shortly after that, Oklahoma City’s Paul George hit a 3 to give the Thunder a 75-74 lead. Portland’s Maurice Harkless made a 3-pointer as the third quarter expired to put the Trail Blazers up 82-80.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: Held Thunder to 29 percent shooting in the first quarter to lead 34-17. … Outrebounded the Thunder 26-15 in the first half and 49-39 overall.
Thunder: Westbrook and George shot a combined 7 for 28 overall and 0 for 12 from 3-pointers. … Westbrook didn’t score until 5:43 remained in the second quarter. … Shot 14 or 21 from the field in the second quarter.
UP NEXT
Trail Blazers: At New Orleans on Tuesday night.
