Paul George had 32 points (17 at the free-throw line) and 14 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers 129-121 in overtime.
Al-Farouq Aminu made 2 free throws with 2.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie it at 113 for the Trail Blazers, but the Thunder outscored them 16-8 in overtime.
During clutch time, the Thunder outscored the Trail Blazers 27-18. Russell Westbrook (No. 8 in clutch points, 2018-19) scored 13 of the Thunder’s 27 on 4 for 7 shooting and 3 for 4 at the line. In the fourth quarter and overtime, George had 4 of his 6 assists, 1 of them on a basket by Steven Adams that tied the game and 1 on a basket by Adams that put the Thunder ahead. In that stretch, George had 2 of his 3 steals, and the Thunder scored 2 points off them. With 2:59 left, Jusuf Nurkić stole the ball from George, and Aminu’s cutting layup off it tied the game at 107.
Westbrook scored 37 points with 5 3-pointers. The Thunder had 2 30-point scorers.
For the Trail Blazers, Damian Lillard had a season-high 51 points and 9 assists, and CJ McCollum added 25 points (11 in the second quarter). Nurkić had 13 points and 17 rebounds. Lillard scored 15 of his 51 points in the fourth quarter.
The Thunder shot 45.7% from the field and 29.6% from 3 to the Trail Blazers’ 39.4% and 22.0%. The Trail Blazers gave up 16 offensive rebounds, about 5 more than usual for the shots the Thunder missed. The Thunder outscored the Trail Blazers 70-48 in the paint. The Trail Blazers did not make a field goal in the last 4:01. The Thunder’s starters outscored the Trail Blazers 61-48 in 24 minutes together.