Thunder aim to get defensive against Trail Blazers

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Lost in the hysteria of Russell Westbrook's 25th triple double of the season and dynamic 15-point run to close out the Memphis Grizzlies Friday was the defensive effort by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Grizzlies held a three-point lead but scored one point in the final minutes and it was the type of defense sorely lacking during a three-game losing streak that featured double-digit defeats to the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls.

Now comes a chance to see if the Thunder can follow it up and they get their opportunity Sunday afternoon when they host the Portland Trail Blazers.

"Coming out of those three games, I tried to evaluate almost every single possession," Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said after Westbrook scored 19 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter. "I do think the one area of our team where we are really effective and I think we're really really good at is in transition. And transition always comes from getting stops."

For a good part of the 114-102 win, the Thunder were not getting those stops. Center Marc Gasol and Mike Conley were scoring at will.

Then, as if a switched was flipped, the Thunder defense decided to show up to the party.

The defense was ignited by a couple of athletic defensive plays from Westbrook. One was a failed steal attempt that Memphis was unable to capitalize on. The other was a steal on the sideline that led led to a pair of free throws for Westbrook in the final minute.

According to Donovan, Westbrook makes those type of supremely athletic plays a lot, but they are often overlooked due to his triple-double numbers.

"You don't have a chance and people don't get a chance because they write so much about his triple-doubles, his numbers, his stats, his minutes, his usage and all this other stuff, that I really think people miss it," Donovan said. "Those things really are remarkable and they are incredible and I'm not undervaluing what he has done statistically but it's the constant awareness of what is going on in the game, it's surveying things, its recognizing what's going on.

"There are a lot of things that he does in my opinion that don't show up on a stat sheet. I get that the stats are remarkable, but there is so much more to him as a leader and as a player in my opinion."

Portland (22-29) is eighth in the NBA in scoring at 107.7 per game. They are led by dynamic point guard Damian Lillard, who is averaging almost 26 points and six assists a night.

The Trail Blazers Blazers are coming off a 108-104 loss to Dallas Friday night. They freely admit it was one of their toughest defeats of the season.

"It's frustrating," Portland coach Terry Stotts told Oregonlive.com. "There are a lot of frustrating losses throughout the season. It's not so much about the loss as we didn't play as well as we have been playing. We were a little bit of a step slow."