Trail Blazers 103 - 93 Thunder
Final
  for this game

Aldridge leads Trail Blazers past Thunder

Jan 4, 2012 - 6:51 AM Oklahoma City, OK (Sports Network) - LaMarcus Aldridge scored a game-high 30 points and Wesley Matthews added 16, leading the Portland Trail Blazers to a 103-93 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Gerald Wallace had 13 points and 10 rebounds for Portland while Raymond Felton and Nicolas Batum scored 12 apiece.

James Harden started for an under-the-weather Thabo Sefolosha and led Oklahoma City with 23 points, but Kevin Durant shot just 8-for-26 for 19 points and the Thunder lost their second game in a row after starting the season 5-0. Russell Westbrook scored 22 with eight assists.

"I just have to stay positive, I know it was a tough game for me," said Durant. "Some of those shots looked good coming out of my hand, but they didn't fall. I'm a scorer, I can't get too down on myself because the baskets will come."

Durant was 3-for-13 in the second half after being named Western Conference Player of the Week earlier Tuesday.

"He's a good player and can put up some numbers. I thought we did a good job defensively making him work and just trying to keep him in front of us," said Blazers coach Nate McMillan.

Tempers flared with 1:06 remaining in the game when Aldridge and Oklahoma City center Kendrick Perkins came together near the basket during a stoppage and stood face-to-face before some light shoving broke out.

Both players were whistled for technical fouls and Perkins had seven points in the game.

The Thunder, who had their five-game winning streak snapped by Dallas on Monday, had a 26-21 lead after the first quarter and a 53-51 edge at halftime.

But Portland took the lead for good near the end of the third quarter, using a 6-0 run to break a tie and go ahead 72-66 on Aldridge's dunk with 3:32 left.

The Blazers led 78-74 going into the fourth quarter. The gap was trimmed to two points before a 13-1 run pushed it back into double digits. Batum's three- pointer capped the surge to make it 92-82.

Game Notes

Portland bounced back from a loss to the Clippers on Sunday to improve to 4-1 on the season...The Blazers shot 44.7 percent and Oklahoma City shot 43.4 percent.






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