Portland @ Oklahoma City preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 5, 2017 ) Oklahoma City 99, Portland 103

Dealing with Russell Westbrook is hard enough and can only get worse if your top player is out of the lineup. The Portland Trail Blazers hope to have star point guard Damian Lillard back on the floor when then they visit Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Lillard sat out Sunday's 111-110 victory over the San Antonio Spurs due to right calf and hamstring injuries and he has missed six of the past eight games. "We've got a big stretch of games coming up and having a little bit of a situation with my hamstring, it takes time, and then, aggravating my calf, and having both be on the same side, (the team training staff) just told me that it would probably be smarter to take it easy," Lillard told reporters about sitting out before a four-game road trip begins in Oklahoma City. The Trail Blazers have won six of their past eight meetings with the Thunder, who were drilled 114-100 by the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. Westbrook had 26 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the defeat for his 14th triple-double of the season.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, NCSN Northwest, FS Oklahoma

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (21-18): Shooting guard CJ McCollum once again took over the starring role with Lillard out and he scored the game-winning basket with a floater in the lane with 5.9 seconds left -- a shot that bounced on the rim seven times before dropping in. "It didn't want to go in. I think that's karma for all the in-and-outs I've missed all year so I was due for one," McCollum said after his 25-point outing. "I got a good look, so I can live with that even if it rolls out. That's the shot I practice over and over again." Portland has won five of its last seven games despite Lillard sitting out four of the victories but backup Shabazz Napier has stepped up to average 14.3 points over the past 10 games and he contributed 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting against the Spurs.

ABOUT THE THUNDER (22-18): Oklahoma City has lost three of its past five games and looked a step slow most of Sunday night while falling to the youthful Suns. "We just didn't play up to the level that we needed to," forward Paul George told reporters afterward. "It's a young team that played hard. They beat us in physicality. They were just aggressive, a young team playing aggressive on their floor. They got hot and it resulted in a loss for us." George struggled to 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting to halt a personal stretch in which he scored 24 or more in each of his past six games.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Lillard recorded 36 points and 13 assists as the Trail Blazers posted a 103-99 home win over the Thunder on Nov. 5.

2. Oklahoma City C Steven Adams scored 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting against Phoenix for his fourth straight game in double digits.

3. Portland C Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points and 13 rebounds against the Spurs for his ninth double-double of the season.

PREDICTION: Thunder 118, Trail Blazers 114