Don't look now, but the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to present challenges for their opponents this season.
Next up: the Trail Blazers on Sunday night at the Ford Center. The Thunder improved to 2-0 on Friday with a 91-83 victory at Detroit in which Kevin Durant collected 25 points and 12 rebounds.
"Great scorer, great player," Portland's Martell Webster said of the Thunder's third-year small forward. "He's a hard one to contain."
Portland won three of four meetings with Oklahoma City last season, and the Blazers did a good defensive job on Durant, holding him to 18.5 points a game and .397 shooting from the field.
ROCKETS 111, TRAIL BLAZERS 107: Houston shot .506 from the field and maintained a small lead most of the way. Portland's Brandon Roy scored 42 points, but Houston's Trevor Ariza nearly matched him with 33, sinking 11 of 17 from the field, including five of eight from 3-point range. The Blazers shot .514 from the field and blocked eight shots, giving them 20 in two games against the Rockets.
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