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Thunder aim to sew up playoff spot vs. Blazers

Mar 27, 2011 - 2:47 PM (Sports Network) - The Oklahoma City Thunder will continue a six-game homestand tonight in search of their second straight postseason berth versus the Northwest Division-rival Portland Trail Blazers.

The division-leading Thunder will clinch a playoff spot and move closer to their first division title in six years with a win over the Blazers. The club could also secure a postseason berth Sunday with losses by Houston, which plays at Miami, and Phoenix, which is home against Dallas.

Oklahoma City is 3-1 on its residency and improved to 26-10 as the host with Friday's 111-103 triumph over the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves. Russell Westbrook scored 19 points, dished out eight assists and snagged five steals in that one to lead a balanced Thunder attack.

Kevin Durant added 23 points while Kendrick Perkins, Nick Collison and James Harden each scored 13 for the Western Conference's fourth place team, which has won eight of nine and 11 of its last 13 games.

Nazr Mohammed and Serge Ibaka scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, while Ibaka added 10 rebounds in the win.

"I thought it was a solid win, everybody chipped in and helped out," Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said.

The Thunder are four games ahead of Denver in the Northwest standings and haven't won a division title since they were located in Seattle back in 2004-05.

Oklahoma City will also host the Warriors to finish the homestand. It is 5-1 since Kendrick Perkins made his debut with the team on March 14 at Washington. Perkins was acquired from Boston before the trade deadline.

The Blazers, meanwhile, are coming off a huge win over San Antonio on Friday when Nicolas Batum's alley-oop tip-in at the buzzer gave Portland a 98-96 win over the Spurs at the Rose Garden.

Portland trailed by six points, 96-90, with just over a minute to play, but Andre Miller put in a layup and, after misses at both ends, he stripped the ball from Tony Parker and put in a layup with 30.5 seconds to play. Manu Ginobili then lost the ball and Batum was fouled with 0.9 seconds to play, making both free throws to tie the game.

Steve Novak threw the ball out of bounds, giving Portland a chance for the win and the team took advantage as Miller sent up a pass to the rim and Batum put it home for the victory.

"Perfect timing," Blazers head coach Nate McMillan said. "I thought Miller made the right pass and put it right in front of the rim and all Nic had to do was catch it an put it in the hole."

Miller and Batum each had 21 points as Miller added eight assists and six rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have won five of six to stay a half-game ahead of New Orleans for the sixth spot in the Western Conference.

Portland has lost both of its meetings with the Thunder this season.