Trap thwarted: OKC Thunder routs Portland for fourth straight win

The only team with a losing record in that time frame is Portland.

Evidently the Trail Blazers had the Thunder's attention from the get-go as OKC jumped out early and recovered from a third-quarter scare to post a 109-95 victory at the Rose Garden on Tuesday.

It was OKC's fourth straight win in what is easily its stiffest challenge of this season's condensed 66-game schedule.

Up next for the Thunder (38-12): At the Lakers (31-19) on Thursday; at home against Chicago (40-11) on Sunday; home against Memphis (27-21) on Monday; at Miami (35-13) next Wednesday; at Indiana (29-19) on April 6.

Though Portland (23-27) is under the direction of an interim coach and dropped four players from its roster before the March 15 trade deadline, there are much easier buildings in which to post a road victory.

Tuesday marked the 184th consecutive sellout at the Rose Garden. By comparison, OKC has 40 straight sellouts.

This was hardly the place to overlook an inferior foe.

“There always are games on the schedule where you get excited,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “It's just human nature. It's nothing against the other team. When you play against the best players in the game and best teams in the game, there's something to that.”

The Thunder jumped out early and never trailed after the 10:01 mark of the first quarter.

OKC shot 65.0 percent in the first quarter, 66.7 percent in the second quarter and 65.9 percent in the first half for a 65-47 lead.

It was the second straight game the Thunder lit it up before intermission. OKC shot 66.7 percent in the first half at home Sunday night for a 60-49 halftime lead against the Miami Heat.

“It's good ball movement,” explained Thunder sixth man James Harden, who had 21 points, five assists and shot 6 for 7 from the field against the Blazers. “Everybody is on pace and on the same page. We get stops defensively and we get easy buckets. In these past couple games we've really been in a grove of passing the ball and sharing it.”