Lillard and the Trail Blazers aim to clinch series against Oklahoma City

Posted April 22, 2019 7:00 am

By The Associated Press

Oklahoma City Thunder (49-33, sixth in the Western Conference during the regular season) vs. Portland Trail Blazers (53-29, third in the Western Conference during the regular season)

Portland; Tuesday, 10:30 p.m. EDT

WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Portland leads series 3-1

BOTTOM LINE: The Portland Trail Blazers look to clinch the Western Conference first round over the Oklahoma City Thunder in game five. The Trail Blazers won the previous matchup 111-98. CJ McCollum scored 27 points to lead Portland to the victory and Paul George totaled 32 points in the loss for Oklahoma City.

The Trail Blazers have gone 6-10 against division opponents. Portland is third in the Western Conference with 11.8 offensive rebounds per game, led by Enes Kanter averaging 3.7.

The Thunder are 9-7 against the rest of their division. Oklahoma City ranks sixth in the league scoring 51.8 points in the paint per game, led by Steven Adams averaging 11.7.

TOP PERFORMERS: Damian Lillard is averaging 25.8 points and 4.6 rebounds for the Trail Blazers. Kanter has averaged 15.1 points and collected 10 rebounds while shooting 51.5 percent over the last 10 games for Portland.

Russell Westbrook is averaging 22.9 points, 11.0 rebounds and 10.7 assists for the Thunder. George has averaged 23.7 points and collected 7.5 rebounds while shooting 35.0 percent over the last 10 games for Oklahoma City.

LAST 10 GAMES: Thunder: 6-4, averaging 112.7 points, 49 rebounds, 25.8 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 44.1 percent from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.9 points on 45.0 percent shooting.

Trail Blazers: 8-2, averaging 115 points, 47.3 rebounds, 20.7 assists, 7.1 steals and 5.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.7 percent from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.1 points on 44.4 percent shooting.

Trail Blazers Injuries: Jusuf Nurkic: out for season (leg fracture).

Thunder Injuries: Hamidou Diallo: out (elbow), Andre Roberson: out (knee).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.

Article Comments

Article Categories
Basketball Content Providers NBA Pro Sports Sports Sports Leagues Sports Types

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.