PORTLAND – Kevin Durant had 33 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped Portland’s nine-game winning streak at the Rose Garden with an 87-83 victory over the Trail Blazers on Sunday night.
Russell Westbrook added 18 points and nine assists for the Thunder.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 33 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers, who trailed by 11 points but cut the deficit to one point with less than a minute to go.
Westbrook’s 3-pointer made it 84-74 with 3:35 to go but the Blazers closed to 84-80 after Nicolas Batum’s putback with 1:57 to go. Batum added a 3-pointer with 21.9 seconds remaining to make it 84-83.
Kendrick Perkins missed the first of two free throws and after a timeout Aldridge missed a tough fade-away jumper from about 20 feet out with 1.7 seconds to play. Westbrook made a pair of free throws for the final margin.
The Blazers extended their Rose Garden winning streak to nine after rallying for a 92-90 win over Miami on Thursday night. But Portland lost at Golden State, 103-97, on Friday to stop a four-game overall winning streak.
The Blazers trailed by eight points early, but pulled to 18-17 on Aldridge’s layup and free throw late in the first quarter. Portland couldn’t get any closer and Nick Collison’s reverse layup midway through the second quarter gave the Thunder a 33-27 lead.
The Blazers responded with a 12-2 run, pulling ahead on a trio of free throws and a 3-pointer from Batum that put Portland ahead 39-25.
Durant was whistled for three fouls and went to the bench but the Thunder kept up the pressure and the Blazers hung onto only a 43-42 lead at the break.
The Thunder pulled back in front, 52-48, after Westbrook’s finger-roll layup and Collison’s hook shot. Durant made a 3-pointer over Batum to make it 57-50.
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