PORTLAND, Ore. — The playoff possibilities had Brandon Roy’s head spinning.
“That’s why I don’t get into it,” he laughed when some of the scenarios were discussed in the Trail Blazers’ locker room after Portland’s 113-83 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Portland, Houston and San Antonio all have identical 53-28 records heading into the final game of the season for all three teams. The Rockets defeated New Orleans 86-66 and the Spurs beat Golden State 101-72 on Monday night.
The trio were tangled in third place behind the Lakers and the Nuggets in the unsettled Western Conference. The Blazers host Denver in their finale at the Rose Garden on Wednesday night, while Houston visits Dallas and San Antonio hosts the Hornets.
Rather than mess with the dizzying number of possible outcomes, Roy boiled the Blazers’ outlook down to three sentences.
“One game away. Lots of tiebreakers. We’ll see what happens,” he said.
The Blazers stayed on track by building a lead of as many as 35 points against the hapless Thunder for their fifth straight win.
Travis Outlaw led Portland with 21 points as a last-minute starter. Brandon Roy had 20 points and Greg Oden added 16 points and nine rebounds.
Kevin Durant, averaging 25.5 points, scored just 10 for the Thunder, who have lost six of their last seven games. Rookie Russell Westbrook had 15 points and seven assists.
“It’s all about looking forward to the next game now,” Blazers coach Nate McMillan said. “We’ll come to play and finish the season strong.”
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