Blazers Top Thunder 92-87, Move To A Tie For Sixth Place In The West

Oklahoma City, OK (Sports Network) - Andre Miller scored 26 points and Portland continued its ascent up the ladder in the Western Conference with a 92-87 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Brandon Roy chipped in 20 points and seven assists, while Marcus Camby tallied 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have won three straight and eight of nine. Portland moved into a tie with San Antonio and the Thunder for sixth in the Western Conference.

“It’s a big win and I think they knew that too,” Miller said. “They let one slip away, but I’m sure they’ll find a way to come back and make it up. They have a lot of good, hard-playing young guys.”

Kevin Durant scored 29 to go with 13 rebounds for the Thunder, who won their previous two contests. Jeff Green had 14 points before fouling out and Russell Westbrook contributed 12 points and six assists.

“Both teams had trouble getting into an offensive rhythm,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “Give them credit, they came out and made a few plays down the stretch that gave them a chance to break the game open.”

Both teams struggled from the field in the fourth quarter with the Blazers going 6-of-19 and the Thunder 5-of-14.

The Thunder got within three two more times, the last at 90-87 following Harden’s layup with 1:02 left.

Roy missed a pair of layups and the Thunder had a chance at possession after forcing a jump ball following a scramble for the ball, but Roy won it back to Camby. Miller missed a jumper, Durant secured the rebound and the called timeout with 12.8 on the clock.

Durant then missed a long three-pointer, and Miller made two from the line with 4.6 seconds left to secure Portland’s victory.

The Blazers carried a 30-21 lead into the second quarter and upped it to 10 before Oklahoma City came firing back, tying the game at 36 on a Nick Collison jam. Durant’s three-ball ended the 17-4 spurt for a 39-36 edge, but Portland went to the half with a 50-49 edge.

Miller’s three-pointer widened the lead to 64-54, but it was down to 74-71 going to the fourth.

The Trail Blazers have won three straight games in Oklahoma City and five of the last six meetings overall...LaMarcus Aldridge had 14 points for Portland, while Ibaka scored 10 and had four blocks for the Thunder...Oklahoma City was 3-of-15 from three-point range.