{{pageModel.leagueAbbr}} {{pageModel.subtitle}} | Las Vegas Review-Journal
National Basketball Association
Oklahoma City 111, Portland 109
When: 10:30 PM ET, Friday, January 4, 2019
Where: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon
Officials: #4 Sean Wright, #45 Brian Forte, #63 Derek Richardson
Attendance: 19393

Paul George and Russell Westbrook combined for 68 points to lift the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder to a 111-109 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night.

George scored 37 points and Westbrook added 31 as the Thunder snapped a six-game losing streak in their series with the Trail Blazers.

Damian Lillard finished with 23 points and eight assists, and Jusuf Nurkic collected 22 points and eight rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who had won two straight.

Nurkic scored 16 points on 8-for-9 shooting and Lillard added 13 to give Portland a 62-57 lead at the half. George had 21 points for Oklahoma City.

The Thunder cut the deficit to 80-78 in the third quarter, and George's 3-pointer gave them an 83-82 advantage with 2:43 left in the period.

Oklahoma City took a 93-87 lead into the final period.

The Thunder increased their advantage to 99-91 with nine minutes left. A Westbrook steal and solo layup gave them a 103-95 lead with 6:07 remaining.

Portland's Al-Farouq Aminu made a pair at the line to trim the difference to 103-97 with 5:27 to go.

Steven Adams' dunk pushed Oklahoma City back on top 105-97, and a fall-back jumper by Westbrook made it 107-97 with 4:13 to play.

Lillard sank four straight free throws, the latter two cutting the margin to 107-101 with 2:43 left. Westbrook scored on a post-up to make it 109-101, but Nurkic hit a pair of foul shots to draw Portland with 109-103 with 1:37 remaining.

CJ McCollum's 13-footer made it 109-105 with 1:02 left, and Lillard was fouled on a 3-point attempt. He hit two of three free throws to cut it to 109-107 with 42.8 seconds to go.

Neither team scored again until George knocked down two foul shots with 4.3 ticks left to wrap it up. Aminu's follow shot at the buzzer ended the scoring.

George scored nine points in the first five minutes as Oklahoma City mounted a 13-11 lead. Portland used an 11-2 run to go ahead 22-15. The Thunder rallied to tie it at 28-28 after one quarter, George leading the way with 13 points.

Jake Layman came off the bench to hit four straight shots and push Portland ahead 47-39. The Blazers later extended their advantage to 58-47.

Portland led by five at the half.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Oklahoma City   Portland
Paul George 37 Scoring Damian Lillard 23
Russell Westbrook 7 Assists Evan Turner 9
Steven Adams 12 Rebounds Al-Farouq Aminu 15
Paul George 12 Free Throws Made Damian Lillard 8
Nerlens Noel 3 Steals Jusuf Nurkic 3
Terrance Ferguson 2 Blocks Maurice Harkless 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Oklahoma City 111 42.6 8-25 23-26 18 49 6 9 11
Portland 109 43.2 9-31 18-21 30 50 5 6 12
Upcoming Games
  • Portland will play their next game at home against Houston. The Trail Blazers have a W/L % of .522 after a win and .625 after a loss.
  • Oklahoma City will play their next game at home against Washington. The Thunder have a W/L % of .680 after a win and .615 after a loss.