Oklahoma City, United States: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Damian Lillard added 21 points and 11 assists to lead Portland over Oklahoma City 98-94 in a showdown of NBA powers on Tuesday.
Bouncing back after successive losses, the Trail Blazers beat the Thunder for the second time in as many meetings this season, improving to 25-7.
“We had two tough losses. The guys could have just layed down tonight but we kept fighting,” Aldridge said.
“We worked hard all through training camp for these moments. We’re just a better team this year.”
Oklahoma City fell to 25-6, still the best record in the Western Conference just ahead of Portland, but the loss left Indiana with the NBA’s best record at 25-5.
NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant scored a game-high 37 points, including 22 in the first half on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor, and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Spain’s Serge Ibaka added 17 points.
But neither of them hit a shot from the floor in the fourth quarter when the Trail Blazers rallied to win.
“In the first half we couldn’t stop him but we just kept going at it,” Aldridge said of Durant. “We felt like if we just stayed the course those guys would start missing shots and our offense would come on.”
Aldridge said he was able to score despite the Thunder getting physical in defending against him.
“That might have worked six years ago but now I’m much older, much stronger,” Aldridge said. “I can take it.”
The Thunder, who led by as many as 16 points in the second half but suffered their biggest blown lead of the season, missed nine shots in a row in the fourth quarter during a 14-2 Portland run.
