Thunder Top New-Look Blazers In Oklahoma City

Grant Belcher, News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY – It was impossible to know what to expect from what was left of the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.

They made several roster moves right before the deadline and were missing key players such as Gerald Wallace and Marcus Camby.

They have a new interim head coach roaming the sideline after firing Nate McMillan on Thursday.

And yet somehow, they were coming off a double-digit win against the league-leading Bulls the night before.

But despite not knowing what to expect, Oklahoma City dictated the game its own way and breezed to a 111-95 victory over Portland at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The roster holes and lack of continuity were a little bit more apparent for Portland and its new interim coach, 34-year-old Kaleb Canales.

Without two of their best defenders, the Trail Blazers allowed OKC to score at will. The Thunder shot better than 55 percent as a team in the game and moved the ball better than they had in recent games, racking up 24 assists.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had their semi-usual nights, with Durant putting up 26 points and Westbrook leading all scorers with 28.

But one of the brightest spots of the night for Thunder fans was the production of Thabo Sefolosha in limited minutes.

Sefolosha was playing in his third game back after missing most of the year with a right foot injury.

He played just 14 minutes in the game, still trying to adjust to coming back from such an extended absence. But he scored 11 points in that time and pulled down five rebounds.

OKC upped its record to 34-11 overall while the Blazers fell to 21-24. The Thunder pushed their lead over the Spurs in the Western Conference standings back out to four games again.

Oklahoma City will travel to Utah for an 8 p.m. tipoff on Tuesday with the Jazz.