The unbeaten Oklahoma City Thunder will begin a rough
stretch of games starting with tonight's showdown at home versus the Portland
Trail Blazers.
Oklahoma City has won its first two games of the new campaign and didn't
record its third win of last season until mid-December. It is coming off
Friday's 91-83 victory over Detroit in which young star Kevin Durant posted 25
points and 12 rebounds to lead the way.
Jeff Green added 16 points for the Thunder, whose last win in Detroit came on
December 12, 2003, when the franchise was located in Seattle. Nenad Krstic
scored 14 points, while Russell Westbrook had 10 points and 10 assists for
Oklahoma City, which opened its season Wednesday with a win over Sacramento.
"We showed some toughness tonight, we got better," Durant said. "Those guys
fought hard. It was a big challenge for us. We passed this test, and we have
another one against Portland [on Sunday]."
The Thunder will also take on the Lakers, Rockets and Magic on its upcoming
schedule.
Portland, meanwhile, will try to put the brakes on a brief two-game losing
streak Sunday and suffered a 111-107 setback in Houston last night.
Brandon Roy exploded for 42 points in a losing effort and LaMarcus Aldridge
added 27 points for the Blazers, who got 15 points out of new point guard
Andre Miller.
The Trail Blazers opened the 2009-10 campaign with a win over the Rockets
before losing to Denver.
Portland went 3-1 last season against Oklahoma City, while these two teams
have split the previous 14 matchups. The Blazers have dropped five of the last
seven road meetings in this series.
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