Blazers shut down Thunder in 2nd half, win 103-93

By JEFF LATZKE, AP Sports Writer Published: Jan 3, 2012 at 9:37 PM PDT Last Updated: Jan 3, 2012 at 10:09 PM PDT
Blazers shut down Thunder in 2nd half, win 103-93
Portland Trail Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge (12) shoots in front of Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka during the second quarter of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012. Portland won 103-93. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and eight rebounds to help the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-93 on Tuesday night.

Wesley Matthews added 16 points for the Blazers, who held Oklahoma City to 34 percent shooting in the second half to push ahead on an off night for All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

Westbrook scored 22 points on 8-for-18 shooting and Durant finished with 19 points while hitting 8 of 26 shots. James Harden made his sixth career start in place of Thabo Sefolosha (flulike symptoms) and led the way for the Thunder with 23 points.

Oklahoma City started the season 5-0 before losing for the second straight night.

The Thunder were held to only 40 points on 13-for-38 shooting in the second half after making 51 percent of their shots and leading most of the first half.

Gerald Wallace contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds for Portland, and Raymond Felton had 12 points and seven assists. The Blazers had only nine turnovers after committing 46 in their previous two games.

Neither team led by more than seven until the fourth quarter, when Portland started to inch away.

Nicolas Batum and Felton hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, and Batum added another from the right wing just before the shot clock expired to bump the Blazers' advantage up to 92-82 with 5:55 remaining.

Wallace countered a couple easy buckets by Westbrook by backing in against Durant for a pair of layups, and Aldridge's 19-footer from the top of the key put Portland up 98-86 with 2:46 to play.

Thunder coach Scott Brooks called a timeout but his team couldn't mount a rally. Felton all but sealed it when he missed a layup with 45 seconds left but came out with the offensive rebound and hit two foul shots to make it 100-91.

Aldridge and Oklahoma City's Kendrick Perkins were both called for technical fouls after Perkins slammed his shoulder into Aldridge following a rebound. The two were quickly separated by teammates before the conflict escalated.

The Thunder led for most of the first half, when their shots were falling — except for Durant's. Nick Collison had back-to-back layups to finish the first quarter, and Harden's 3-pointer from the right wing in the opening minutes of the second quarter gave Oklahoma City its largest lead of the game at 32-25.

Aldridge went to work bringing the Trail Blazers back, scoring eight points after the midway point of the second quarter to cut the deficit down to 53-51 by halftime.

He also had a two-handed slam off of a Marcus Camby alley-oop and also had a right-handed dunk during a 13-4 run that gave Portland a 74-67 lead in the final 3 minutes of the third quarter. The Blazers wouldn't trail again.

Durant made only three of his first 11 shots and it never really got better. After he hit consecutive shots to end the first half, he went 3-for-13 in the second half. Westbrook was 5-for-15 before making his last three attempts of the game.

NOTES: Durant was named the Western Conference player of the week for the first week of the season, averaging 27.4 points as the Thunder started the season 5-0. ... Portland had a 46-40 edge on the boards and has outrebounded all five of its opponents this season. ... Oklahoma City had been 20-6 after losses last season, but lost in its first bounce back game this season.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.