George scores 36 as Thunder thump Blazers

Paul George scored 36 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 123-114 home win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night. Oklahoma City extended its winning streak to three games and snapped Portland's three-game winning streak.

The result not only put the Thunder ahead of the Blazers by a game in third place in the Western Conference, but it also gave Oklahoma City a 2-0 advantage in the season series between the teams with two meetings remaining. The Thunder led virtually the entire way, with the Blazers leading for just 23 seconds -- all in the first half.

Even so, Oklahoma City couldn't put Portland away until the final minutes. With just more than two minutes remaining, George stepped in front of Jusuf Nurkic's pass and took it the other way himself, using his body to protect his shooting arm from Nurkic at the basket as he finished the layup. The hoop put Oklahoma City on top 117-108.

The steal was the last of five for George. The Thunder tied a season high with 16 steals in the win. Russell Westbrook had 29 points, including a pair of emphatic dunks in the final two minutes to put the exclamation point on the victory. Westbrook added 14 assists and 10 rebounds.

He sealed his NBA-best 14th triple-double of the season with a rebound shortly after George's steal started to make things feel comfortable for the Thunder. Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 34 points while CJ McCollum added 31. Nurkic had 22 points and 15 rebounds.

McCollum dominated in the third quarter, making his first six shots, including four 3-pointers. He finished 7 for 9 from the floor in the period, scoring 21 points, and the Blazers trailed just 93-87 heading to the fourth. Oklahoma City scored 28 points on the fastbreak while Portland managed just six.

The Thunder shot 50.6 percent from the floor and continued their recent improved 3-point shooting going 11 of 23 from behind the arc. Oklahoma City is shooting 41.8 percent from behind the 3-point line over its past seven games. Prior to that, the Thunder were shooting just 32.3 percent from behind the arc.

Portland made 45.3 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 10 of 36 (37.8 percent) from 3-point range. --Field Level Media

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