Portland @ Oklahoma City preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 3, 2018 ) Oklahoma City 100, Portland 108

The Portland Trail Blazers and Oklahoma City Thunder are both bearing down on playoff berths, but they have bigger goals in mind. With home-court advantage in the Western Conference a distinct possibility for both teams, they meet in a critical matchup Sunday in Oklahoma City.

The Trail Blazers had won 13 in a row before back-to-back losses to Houston and Boston, which left the third-place club a game up on the Thunder and 1 1/2 ahead of New Orleans and San Antonio entering Saturday's play. "I wouldn't say 'letdown,'" Portland guard Damian Lillard told reporters of the two consecutive defeats. "Any time you can have a streak of 13 games, that means you did a lot of good things, the team is focused." Oklahoma City also lost to the Celtics on a buzzer-beater before it rebounded to top Miami 105-99 on Friday, winning for the seventh time in its last eight games overall. The Blazers took each of the first three meetings, including a 117-106 triumph Jan. 9 in Oklahoma City.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS Oklahoma

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (44-28): Lillard's girlfriend is due to give birth to their child Monday and the All-Star guard reportedly had a private jet lined up in the event he needs to leave the team during its three-game road trip. He and CJ McCollum scored 26 points apiece in the loss to the Celtics, but Lillard shot 9-for-22 and hit 37.4 percent of his shots over the last seven games. McCollum led the way with 28 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocks in a 108-100 win over the Thunder earlier this month at home.

ABOUT THE THUNDER (44-30): Center Steven Adams scored 20 of his 24 points in the first three quarters of Friday's win and Russell Westbrook took it from there, pouring in 17 of his 29 in the fourth. "It's new to me, a guy at his level that is always ready for the moment who can just sense how and when to really take charge," teammate Paul George said of Westbrook. "He is one of the most explosive and unique players that I have ever played with." George missed all six of his 3-point tries in the win and was 0-for-7 from beyond the arc in the most recent loss to Portland.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Thunder SF Carmelo Anthony is 17-of-51 from the floor over his last five home games.

2. Blazers PG Shabazz Napier (toe) missed Friday's loss and is day-to-day.

3. Portland has won five straight meetings overall.

PREDICTION: Thunder 109, Trail Blazers 105