http://www.portlandtribune.com/sport...13307705571700

OKLAHOMA CITY — It was an ugly, sloppy game Sunday night at Ford Center.

The verdict — an 83-74 Portland victory over Oklahoma City — still looked good to the Trail Blazers.

Coach Nate McMillan demanded better defense after the Blazers’ 111-107 loss at Houston Saturday night, and the numbers were much better against the Thunder, who had opened the season with a pair of wins.

“It was a gut check for us coming off last night’s loss,” McMillan said. “We played better basketball.”

Oklahoma City shot .343 from the field and 3 of 14 from 3-point range.

“We all took it personally that Houston scored that many points on us,” said Portland point guard Steve Blake, who scored a team-high 18 points. “Everybody stepped up and did a good job playing team defense. That’s what we have to do every night if we’re going to win games.”

“The defense was good,” McMillan said. “We made (the Thunder) work. We made them earn it tonight. We were able to get stops when we had to have them.”

Star forward Kevin Durant’s 3-of-21 shooting was a major factor in the game, with Martell Webster having primary responsibility for guarding him. Durant finished with 16 points.

“We know (Durant) is their go-to guy,” Blake said. “He’s going to get up 20, 30 shots a game. Martell was going to be physical with him, chase him around the court, and he knows we have his back.”

“Martell and the other guys who had Durant made it tough on him to get a clean look,” McMillan said.

Portland (2-2) got the win despite losing LaMarcus Aldridge late in the first quarter. Aldridge bumped knees with Oklahoma City’s Jeff Green and sat out the rest of the game.

“LaMarcus is a huge part of this team, but opportunities present themselves through a season,” Blake said. “I was proud that the guys who took his minutes stepped up for us.”

Portland shot only .406 from the field but got a strong shooting performance out of Blake, who made 6 of 9 attempts, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.

Brandon Roy added 16 points but made only 5 of 17 shots from the field.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 23 points, making 8 of 12 from the field.

Portland held a 39-37 lead at halftime as Oklahoma City shot .361 from the field. Durant had 11 points but was only 2 of 10 from the field.

Blake had the hot hand for the Blazers, sinking 4 of 5 from the field — 2 of 3 from 3-point range — for 10 points in the half.

Portland jumped in front 15-6 in the game’s first six minutes as Oklahoma City started shooting 3 for 10 from the field. The Blazers led 25-13 late in the first quarter and 25-15 after one period as the Thunder made only 7 of 20 shots.

Oklahoma City used a 10-1 run to get within 26-23 early in the second quarter. Then rookie guard James Harden hit back-to-back 3s to give the Thunder their first lead at 30-29 with 5:46 left.

Travis Outlaw and Blake sank consecutive 3s to push Portland back in front 39-34.

Webster sank a long jumper and a 3-pointer, then drove for a slam dunk over Etan Thomas to push Portland into a 54-47 lead midway through the third quarter.

Oklahoma City stayed in range until Blake’s 3-pointer gave Portland a 77-68 lead with 1:30 remaining.

NOTES — The Blazers play host to Atlanta Tuesday night. ... Portland made only three field goals in the first 10 minutes of the second quarter. ... The Blazers had four traveling calls early in the quarter — two by Travis Outlaw, one apiece by Webster and Greg Oden — and had eight turnovers in the game’s first 18 minutes. The Blazers finished with 14 in the game to Oklahoma City’s 19. “Other than the second quarter, we did a better job taking care of the ball,” McMillan said. “Our second group at times is struggling to score, but we get the ‘W,’ and we can build from this.”