Rip City R!SE Entry 4 - d11king's Dynasty

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Rip City R!SE Entry 4

Posted on December 3, 2012 at 08:05 PM.

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Blazers Can't Hang On, Lose To Thunder

Thomas had an all-around game, but it wasn't enough to can't carry Blazers to victory.

Portland Trailblazers (1-1) at Oklahoma City Thunder (1-1)

Nov 2, 2012	1	2	3	4	Final
Portland	24	32	25	26	107
Oklahoma City	21	33	25	32	111

Top Performers

Portland Trailblazers

Donte' Thomas - 28 points, 9 assts, 5 rebs (13-22 fg)

Lamarcus Aldridge - 25 points, 7 rebs (11-23 fgs)

Oklahoma City Thunder

Kevin Durant - 27 points, 10 rebs (12-22 fg)

Kevin Martin - 27 points, 2 assts, 1 reb (8-21 fg)

Team Stats Comparison
	POR	OKC
FG Made-Att	42-92	38-85
3PT Made-Att	8-18	9-24
FT Made-Att	15-18	26-29
Rebounds	46	46
Assists	21	30
Turnovers	7	5
Steals	4	4
Blocks	3	4

Portland Trailblazers
STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
JJ. Hickson	31	5-10	0-0	4-4	15	2	0	0	0	14
Damian Lillard	36	4-11	2-4	4-4	6	5	0	0	3	14

Oklahoma City Thunder
STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
Russell Westbrook	39	6-21	0-3	7-9	4	14	3	0	2	19
Serge Ibaka	35	4-6	0-0	2-2	9	0	0	1	0	10

1 Hour Ago by Martellus Clark | ESPNportland
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Russell Westbrook was 6-14 shooting, Serge Ibaka didn't have a double-double, J.J. Hickson finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds, Aldridge and Thomas both scored more than 25, yet the Thunder found a way to win the game at home 111-107.

The difference? The bench. After having 37 points off the bench against the Lakers two nights ago, the Blazers were only able to muster 15 points against the Thunder. The Thunder did not have that same problem, as they erupted for 41, including 27 from Kevin Martin.

The Blazers were up the entire game, their biggest lead being 10, they were also up 4 with 2:57 left in the game, but the clutch contested baskets by both Kevin Durant and Kevin Martin were too much for the Blazers to overcome.

"We blew that game, we had it in our possession but they wanted it more.. so our guys just gave it to them," Head Coach Terry Stotts said.

"It's really tough to come into a building like this, against a team like this, and get a W, and it's going to be even harder knowing that we should be 2-0. To work that hard and be so close, and to have it slip away.. it's tough. We didn't get enough production off the bench, and we're still giving up too many points on defense, we have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be, but the season's still young, so no need to worry now."

The Blazers need to quickly put this game behind them as they travel down south to take on a tough Houston team tomorrow night in their first back-to-back of the season.

Game Notes
The Thunder were 26-29 from the free-throw line, compared to 15-18 from the Blazers. The Blazers also had 0 fastbreak points.

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Interviews

[Media Room]

Thomas: It's tough. It really is... We have to find a way to close games out, and it starts on the defensive end. We'll learn from this experience, but we have to get ready for Houston tomorrow.

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[Locker Room]

Aldridge: I mean, I don't what needs to be said. We know what we didn't do, and we know what we did do. Hopefully, as the season goes along, we'll know what we did do, and we'll have no idea what we didn't do cause we did everything we needed to.

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