Long rebounds caromed all over the floor on Tuesday night and for a while it seemed those second chances for the Portland Trail Blazers would be the Thunder’s proverbial Achilles heel.
The Thunder’s first shot defense and disruptiveness were good enough to overcome it, and that shined bright in the final minutes of a 123-114 victory in Chesapeake Energy Arena over its division rival.
Up 7 with just over two minutes to play, the Thunder was still fending off continued advances by the Blazers in the fourth quarter when Paul George put an end to all that.