Luguentz Dort recorded 23 points and seven rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 96-93 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
Josh Giddey contributed 16 points and seven rebounds as Oklahoma City won a third straight game for the first time since Dec. 18-22.
Mamadi Diakite added 12 points and seven rebounds, Ty Jerome had 11 points and eight assists, Mike Muscala also scored 11 points and Kenrich Williams had 10 points for the Thunder.
CJ McCollum and Anfernee Simons scored 19 points apiece as the Trail Blazers lost for the fourth straight time and sixth in their past seven games. Jusuf Nurkic registered 14 points and 16 rebounds and Tony Snell had 13 points and eight boards for Portland.
Simons’ 3-point attempt bounced off the rim as time expired.
The Trail Blazers were short-handed after trading Norman Powell and Robert Covington to the Los Angeles Clippers earlier Friday in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and a 2025 second-round draft pick.
The Thunder also defeated Portland 98-81 on Monday, holding the visiting Trail Blazers to a season-low point total.
Oklahoma City won the rematch despite shooting 37.9 percent from the field, including 15 of 42 from 3-point range.
The Trail Blazers connected on 39.6 percent of their shots and were 6 of 33 from behind the arc.
Dort’s 3-pointer gave the Thunder a 91-84 lead with 5:02 remaining. Neither team scored again until McCollum’s runner with 1:59 to play.
Simons later made two free throws to move Portland within 93-90 with 9.4 seconds left. Muscala sank two free throws with 7.6 seconds remaining before Simons converted a three-point play as the Trail Blazers cut their deficit to 95-93 with 3.6 seconds to play.
Dort split two free throws with 3.1 seconds left before Simons’ last-second miss.
Portland led 58-48 after Nurkic’s dunk with 8:27 remaining in the third quarter.
Oklahoma City rallied and Dort made two free throws to give his club a 73-71 lead with 2:03 left in the period.
McCollum’s 30-foot 3-pointer with 48.6 seconds remaining gave the Trail Blazers a 76-75 edge that they carried into the fourth quarter.
Portland led by five early in the fourth quarter before Muscala scored seven points during an 11-0 burst that gave Oklahoma City an 86-80 lead with 7:10 left to play.
Snell scored 11 first-half points and the Trail Blazers led 50-46 at the break.
–Field Level Media
