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Live from the Rose Garden as the Portland Trail Blazers host the Seattle Sonics Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder are currently riding a five game winning streak, and have been one of the NBA's hottest teams since the All-Star break. Add in their 3-0 record over Portland this season—they're going for the series sweep tonight—and things are not looking too good for the Blazers.

With only a handful of games left—and only one game separating spots six through eight in the playoff standings—Portland is going to need to steal every victory they can manage from here on out. A loss tonight, coupled with a Memphis win over New Orleans, would put those three teams in a dead heat at 43-33. One of them will have to face the Lakers in the first round, and that's the matchup nobody wants. Portland either needs to keep winning and hope for the six seed, or keep losing and hope for the eighth seed.

Seeing as how Oklahoma City has that Kevin Durant guy, I'm going to go with them losing and hoping for the eighth seed.

PRE-GAME:
Nate McMillian is tweaking the starting lineup tonight, opting to start Marcus Camby over Nicolas Batum. That gives Portland a bit more size to combat Kendrick Perkins in the middle. That, and Batum went 0-7 from the field in Wednesday's loss to New Orleans.

While I like the move of switching Gerald Wallace to small forward where he'll matchup well defensively against Kevin Durant, that leaves Wesley Matthews to guard Russell Westbrook, a job much better suited for Batum.

Oklahoma City is a dangerous team. With the Perkins trade, they bolstered their strength in the middle, and added a tough defender to matchup against the elite centers in the league. Kevin Durant needs no introduction. Russell Westbrook has been playing out of his mind, morphing into one of the best young point guards in the league. Oh, and apparently Westbrook has added some range to his slashing and driving—in the last meeting between these two teams, he went four for five from distance and officially put the game away with some fourth quarter daggers.

There are a lot of Sonics jerseys in the house tonight. In fact, I'm seeing more green and yellow than blue and orange in the crowd tonight.

FIRST QUARTER:
11:44 - A quick pass from Marcus Camby to a wide open LaMarcus Aldridge, and the Blazers have their first lead. Looks like that whole starting Camby thing may pay off. 2-0 Blazers.

9:57 - Kevin Durant came ready to play, knocking down his first two jumpers. His jump shot is unreal. The Blazers picking Oden over him was an April Fools' day joke, right? 4-4 Tie.

8:13 - Durant is 3-3 from the field. And he just picked up a three shot foul by doing that awesome thing where he comes through a defender who has his arms down. Wesley Matthews picked up the foul, and Durant easily sank all three freebies. He has nine points in four minutes. 14-8 Thunder.

7:49 - Oh shit, Dan Aykroyd is in the house! Crystal skull vodka and crazy alien conspiracies for everyone!!! 16-8 Thunder.

6:01 - The points aren't pretty tonight, but they're coming. After a broken lob to Marcus Camby, Wesley Matthews secured the loose ball and tossed another alley-oop to Aldridge. He did not miss that one. 18-12 Thunder.

3:20 - Yep, more points for Durant. Yep, more hustle plays for Oklahoma City. Yep, a wicked crossover from Russell Westbrook. The Thunder are putting on a clinic right now, and nothing is going Portland's way. 24-12 Thunder.

1:19 - Rudy Fernandez just picked up an offensive foul on Russell Westbrook. That's the best defense possible at this point—stand in the guy's way and hope he knocks you down. Too bad Portland couldn't convert on the turnover. 28-16 Thunder.

0:00 - Durant either hates Portland or April Fools' day. I'm guessing both, as he finished the quarter with an unlucky thirteen on 5-7 shooting. 30-20 Thunder.

SECOND QUARTER:
11:20 - Oklahoma City out-rebounded the Blazers 12-2 in the first quarter. Ah, so that explains the ten point lead. 30-20 Thunder.

10:30 - Rudy hit his first three of the game, throwing a big fist pump after hitting it. After all his misses lately, hopefully that will get him hot for this game. Too bad James Harden's beard hit one to get it right back on the other end. 35-25 Thunder.

9:54 - James Harden has nine points in this game. If him, Durant, and Westbrook are all scoring with ease, Portland has no chance. 37-28 Thunder.

9:22 - Rudy Fernandez came flying in after a Nicolas Batum missed three and slammed home the rebound, a strong aggressive move and a good sign for Rudy's game tonight. Too bad Daequan Cook hit a corner three on the other end to silence the crowd. Apparently defense hates April Fools' day as well, as the Thunder are currently shooting 70% from the field. 42-32 Thunder.

7:41 - The Blazers are shooting 54% from the field, so it's not like their offense isn't working. Gerald Wallace found a wide open cutting Batum for an easy dunk, and the Blazers are starting to chip back into this one. First team to play defense wins! 42-36 Thunder.

6:55 - Wow, Harden just went nuts. He stole the ball at mid-court from Gerald Wallace, then drove it right into the chest of LaMarcus Aldridge for the basket and the foul. He hit the free throw, and now has twelve points for the game. Dude came to play. 45-38 Thunder.

6:02 - First attempt at a zone defense for Portland, and James Harden got to the basket at will. Two more points. Nicolas Batum hit a three on the other end, though it shouldn't count—the shot went off the glass, and dude didn't call bank. Batum shook his head all the way down the court. 47-45 Thunder.

5:28 - Aaaaand Durant nailed a three on the next possession. Of course he did. 50-45 Thunder.

3:56 - James Harden for another three. Beard power. The Blazers just can't quite get over the hump and tie this game up. 53-47 Thunder.

1:25 - Wesley Matthews just biffed a power dunk, and then missed a following layup. Two missed shots at point blank range. That was not a good possession. 57-51 Thunder.

0:00 - With twenty seconds left in the quarter, Oklahoma City called a timeout to draw up a play to end the half. The result was two easy points on a drive by Russell Westbrook, giving him nine for the half. With eight seconds left, Gerald Wallace lost the ball trying to drive to the hoop to get a shot up to beat the buzzer. Yep, that about sums things up. 59-53 Thunder.

THIRD QUARTER:
11:00 - Kendrick Perkins and LaMarcus Aldridge were just going at it a bit, and then Aldridge drained a twenty-foot jumper in his face. On the other end, Perkins picked up an offensive foul trying to set a pick. The odds he will now eat a small child out of anger are about twenty to one. 61-55 Thunder.

9:00 - Andre Miller's fadeaway jumper just hit off the side of the backboard. That looked about as good as my skills, only I can't quite jump that high. After Thabo Sefolosha picked up a transition dunk on the other end, Nate McMillian took a quick and angry timeout. 65-57 Thunder.

8:37 - Kendrick Perkins just picked up his fourth foul, and three of those have come in the last three minutes. Okay, his baby-eating odds are up to fifteen to one. 65-59 Thunder.

7:00 - The Blazers are playing some defense! That's two shot-clock violations in a row for the Thunder. A three from Wesley Matthews on the other end and it's a one point game! 65-64 Thunder.

5:48 - Kevin Durant missed three straight three pointers. I am going to tell my grandchildren about this day. 65-64 Thunder.

5:25 - After a steal, Marcus Camby threw a long lead pass for Matthews who was out ahead of the pack. Nick Collison caught Matthews from behind and dragged him down to the floor by the neck. Collison was called for the clear path foul, but the crowd really wanted a flagrant. Matthews drained both free throws! Blazers lead, and they have the ball back. 66-65 Blazers.

5:10 - LaMarcus Aldridge drained a fadeaway jumper on the extra possession, and Oklahoma City needs time. The Rose Garden crowd has been on their feet for the duration of the timeout. This place is going nuts. 68-65 Blazers.

3:59 - All those shots that were falling for Oklahoma City in the first half are now rimming out. The Blazers are on a huge run and are taking full advantage of the slumping Thunder. 72-65 Blazers.

1:58 - The Blazers are allergic to rebounding. The Thunder have corralled at least four offensive rebounds on this possession, giving them multiple chances to miss shots. Which they did. A lot. The play finally ended with Kevin Durant getting called for an offensive foul. That was lucky. 72-68 Blazers.

1:08 - Nicolas Batum just had a dunk of the year contender. He came flying in from the baseline off of a Rudy missed three and jammed it home one-handed over multiple Thunder defenders. That was ridiculous. In the first half Rudy slammed home a Batum miss, so Nicolas was just doing the polite thing and returning the favor. With authority. 76-68 Blazers.

0:00 - Aldridge drained another outside jumper off of a pick and roll with Rudy, and with that make he's now up to thirty points for the night. Thirty through three! The Blazers outscored the Thunder 25-11 in the third quarter, giving them an eight point lead headed into the final frame. Hopefully they can keep up that defensive intensity and hopefully the Thunder will continue to miss open shots. 78-70 Blazers.

FOURTH QUARTER:
11:07 - A Gerald Wallace three just stretched this lead to double digits. That is all. 81-70 Blazers.

8:46 - Another missed rebound, another opportunity for the Thunder to score again. The Blazers are getting killed on the boards—it's a wonder they have a lead at all in this game since the Thunder have ten more rebounds. That missed rebound led to a Daequan Cook three-pointer. That's what happens, dudes. 84-77 Blazers.

7:32 - The Blazers are starting to go a little cold, jacking up a bunch of threes that aren't going in. They have six points (on two made threes) for the first four and a half minutes of the fourth. More LaMarcus, please. 84-78 Blazers.

6:00 - Okay, Aldridge has missed three shots in a row. So much for that idea. The Blazers have to find a way to generate some offense, and soon. Oklahoma City's offense has been dormant for too long, meaning they are likely to end this game on a tear. Portland can't be content to just weather the storm. That's what happened when these teams met first this season, and Portland ended up losing that game in overtime. 86-79 Blazers.

5:25 - Perkins was in the game for two seconds before picking up his fifth foul. Make those baby-eating odds ten to one. 86-79 Blazers.

4:35 - Another miss. This is getting ridiculous. 86-81 Blazers.

4:05 - Thank goodness for Andre Miller. When the team needs a basket, he puts his head down and gets a basket. After a driving layup on one possession, Miller does the same thing on the next possession and picks up the foul. Two makes later, and that's four straight points for Miller. He is so good for this team. 90-81 Blazers.

3:21 - Miller getting scrappy on the defensive end, hitting the deck on a loose ball and picking up a jump ball versus Serge Ibaka. He won't win it, but the hustle points are duly noted. 90-81 Blazers.

2:58 - That's two straight turnovers for the Thunder—one on a twenty-four second violation, one on an offensive foul on James Harden—and the Blazers have control of this one. As long as they can continue to score (looking at you, Andre), Portland may just squeak out a win here tonight. 90-81 Blazers.

2:11 - LaMarcus Aldridge. Twenty feet out. Money. He's been living on the perimeter, but it has been there all night long. Another Thunder turnover, and people are heading for the exits. 92-83 Blazers.

1:07 - A long rebound off of an Andre Miller miss looked like it was going to go the Thunder's way, but Rudy jumped in front of Russell Westbrook and took a hand to his face. Offensive foul on the Thunder, and this one is all but over. 92-85 Blazers.

0:00 - And that will do it. After scoring thirty and twenty-nine in the first two quarters, the Thunder only managed to notch thirty-two points in the entire second half combined. And six of those came on Durant threes when the game was already out of reach. With this win, Portland now has sole possession of sixth place in the Western Conference playoff race.

FINAL SCORE: 98-91 Blazers.