The Blazers are coming into this game against the Thunder following a big loss to the Houston Rockets Monday night. They were without LaMarcus Aldridge, and his absence had a major negative effect on the team.
They’re about to return home as this is their last of a four game road trip where they've won two and lost one. Aldridge is once again questionable for the game tonight, but Kevin Durant is out for Oklahoma City. He was officially ruled out this morning after suffering an ankle injury against the Golden State Warriors last week. If LA is to play, Portland will have the advantage like they did the first time these two teams met. Nicolas Batum, on the other hand, is out tonight because of a reoccurring wrist injury.
The Thunder started off this season poorly. Westbrook injured his hand and sat for a few weeks, and Durant also missed time because of a fracture in his foot. Consequently, their record spiraled down, reaching its low of 3-12 towards the end of November. Once the two All-Stars came back, however, they put together a seven game winning streak and are now 13-15, two games out of the last playoff spot in the West.
In order for Portland to win, they need to shut down Russell Westbrook. During the time when KD was absent, he scored an average of 33 points a game, as opposed to his season average of 27. The offense revolves around him, and if Lillard can hold Westbrook under 25 points, the Blazers are in good shape to win.
Outside of Westbrook, OKC doesn’t have much offensive firepower. Serge Ibaka is scoring 14 points a game this year, which is less than last year. Even without the Thunder's two top scorers, he wasn’t able to step up and help out on the offensive end any more than usual.
Even though Durant isn’t playing, this matchup won’t be a walk in the park for Portland, especially since Batum is out and Aldridge is questionable. The outcome of last night’s game against Houston shows LA’s effect on the team and to prevent another blowout from occurring, Coach Terry Stotts needs to make a few changes to the lineup.
He started Meyers Leonard at center and Joel Freeland at power forward, which turned out alright seeing as they were only losing by four after the first quarter. If Stotts does keep the same starting five against the Thunder, he may need to rotate in Thomas Robinson and Chris Kaman more to keep everyone from getting tired. Also, C.J. McCollum had a great game versus the Rockets, so expect to see an increase in minutes for the young guard.