The Trailblazers have lost four of their last six games and are coming off an ugly 106-90 loss at Oklahoma City.
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“We didn’t start out so well”, Durant said, “but that’s why there’s two halves of basketball”. Oklahoma City (17-9) entered with a six-game winning streak.
Portland were led by 24 points from CJ McCollum and 20 from Damian Lillard, but were outplayed by the Thunder’s more aggressive and capable frontcourt. “Aggressive under the boards, aggressive in the paint and we were kind of behind them the whole night”. James’ supporting cast included Matthew Dellavedova, who had a double-double (11 points, 10 assists).
The Thunder controlled most of the first half, but Portland made three 3-pointers in the final 1:02 of the second quarter to cut Oklahoma City’s lead to 52-45 at the break. “We didn’t do a good job of that to start the game”.
“Without three significant players in your backcourt, you need a player like LeBron to beat a team like Oklahoma City”, Cleveland coach David Blatt said. A 12-2 burst spanned the end of the first and start of the second quarters, fueled by a wing jumper by Dion Waiters and an Enes Kanter put-back layup.
“We are not a soft team”, Plumlee said. The Thunder, who were playing at Cleveland on Thursday, rested four of their starters for the entire fourth quarter.
The Orlando Magic have become a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference, and improvement on their home court is one of the many reasons why. “They had us a few times”. “I think we did a good job early on of contesting his shots”. Center Nikola Vucevic leads the team in scoring (15.5) and rebounds (8.6) while guard Evan Fournier (14.6 points) scored 15 on Wednesday after averaging 6.4 the previous five.BUZZER BEATERS1.
Arron Afflalo poured in 29 points and Carmelo Anthony recorded a double-double to lead NY over Minnesota at Madison Square Garden. Its net rating with Durant, Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka on the floor is * a href=”http://stats.nba.com/league/lineups/#!/advanced/?CF=MIN*GE*350&Season=2015-16&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&GroupQuantity=3&sort=NET_RATING&dir=1″ target=”_blank” *+16.9, the league’s best non-Warriors mark. “I think we’ve been taking care of the ball the last five or six games”, Thunder G Russell Westbrook said. Memphis had won its past two games.
Elsewhere Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green combined to make eight consecutive shots during a three-minute flurry late in the second quarter to propel the Golden State Warriors to a 128-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns. The Grizzlies would respond with a 7-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 36-34 with 7:59 remaining in the first half.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored a career-high 31 points and Detroit took the lead with a 14-0 fourth-quarter run and held off Boston at The Palace.
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Ellie Day was also wearing a neck brace, but gave a thumbs-up sign as she was wheeled off. She was taken to an area hospital for tests, with James, who was visibly shaken immediately after the incident, saying the Cavs had received reports she was doing well.
