Portland @ Oklahoma City preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 22, 2019 ) Portland 114, Oklahoma City 123

Russell Westbrook will aim to become the first NBA player to record 10 consecutive triple-doubles when he leads the Oklahoma City Thunder into a matchup with the visiting Portland Trail Blazers on Monday. After passing Michael Jordan's streak of eight triple-doubles in a row Thursday against Memphis, Westbrook tied Wilt Chamberlain's all-time mark in Saturday's 117-112 victory at Houston.

"It's really incredible," coach Billy Donovan told reporters of the streak. "It took whatever it was, 60 years, until somebody did it just to show you how hard it is to do and how unique of a player he is to be able to do it." Oklahoma City has won three in a row and 10 of its last 11 contests to move to within a game of second-place Denver in the Western Conference. The Trail Blazers are in fourth, three games behind the Thunder, after falling 102-101 at Dallas on Sunday. Portland was doomed by a season-low nine-point effort in the fourth quarter as it watched a 15-point lead vanish amid a nearly seven-minute stretch without scoring.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), FS Oklahoma

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (33-22): Damian Lillard scored 19 of his 30 points in the third quarter at Dallas, but the All-Star guard had just two in the fourth-quarter collapse and missed a layup in the closing seconds while drawing plenty of contact. "On the last play I got fouled two times," Lillard told reporters. "I went behind the back and when I went behind the back, he reached across my body and pulled my right shoulder with his left arm. They didn't call that. And then the foul that Zach (Collins) had been getting called for all night - the dude jumped forward right into me. It's the same call." Portland had been 33-0 when leading entering the fourth quarter.

ABOUT THE THUNDER (36-19): While Westbrook was adding to his streak with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists in the win at Houston, Paul George was stealing some of the headlines with 45 points and 11 boards of his own. "Obviously, Paul with what he did tonight was phenomenal, the way he played," Donovan told the media. "And he was on (Rockets star James Harden) a lot. He was unbelievable tonight on both ends of the floor." George averaged 36.5 points, eight rebounds and three steals in two wins over Portland last month.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Thunder SG Terrance Ferguson averages 6.8 points but has at least 10 in seven of his last eight games.

2. Blazers C Jusuf Nurkic, who had 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting in Sunday's loss, scored 22 in both matchups with Oklahoma City last month.

3. Thunder PG Dennis Schroder is averaging 19.7 points on 55.6 percent shooting over his last six games.

PREDICTION: Thunder 116, Trail Blazers 109