Blazers thump Thunder at the Rose Garden

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buy this photo Rick Bowmer Blazers thump Thunder at the Rose Garden

PORTLAND — Travis Outlaw had 21 points as a last-minute starter and the Trail Blazers built a 35-point lead before defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder 113-83 on Monday night. Brandon Roy had 20 points in Portland's fifth straight victory. Greg Oden had 16 points and nine rebounds.

Kevin Durant, averaging 25.5 points a game, scored just 10 for the Thunder, who have lost six of their last seven games. Rookie Russell Westbrook had 15 points and seven assists.

The Blazers, who have clinched their first postseason since 2002-03, are jockeying for playoff position down to the finish. They remained a game back of Denver in the Northwest Division, and Portland hosts the Nuggets in the season finale on Wednesday night.

Portland was tangled with San Antonio and Houston in a battle behind the Conference-leading Lakers and the second-place Nuggets. The top four finishers will have home-court advantage in the first round.

The Blazers (53-28) have not won as many games since they went 59-23 in the 1999-2000 season.

Portland was without starting forward Nicolas Batum, who was scratched at gametime because of the flu. Outlaw started in the French rookie's place.

The Blazers jumped to a 35-15 lead after Oden jammed Rudy Fernandez's perfectly placed pass. Sergio Rodriguez, part of Portland's so-called "Spanish Connection" with Fernandez, his on a layup to make it 42-21.

Fernandez hit a 3-pointer late in the half that put Portland ahead 60-31. Steve Blake added a layup before the break for the Blazers' biggest margin of the half, 62-31.

Durant did not score until a jumper with 3:48 left in the second quarter and had just first-half four points.

The Thunder shot 40.2 percent from the field for the game.

Brandon Roy, the NBA's Western Conference player of the week, played about 22 minutes before coach Nate McMillan gave him the rest of the night off. The other starters soon followed.

Roy averaged 22.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists last week, when the Blazers went 4-0.

The Blazers were coming off an 87-72 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night. The night before, they beat the Lakers 106-98 in Portland.

The Thunder wrap up the season Wednesday at the Los Angeles Clippers.

Notes: The Trail Blazers will host a rally in downtown Portland on Thursday to celebrate the team's return to the playoffs. … The Blazers' 31-point halftime lead was the team's biggest this season. … The Blazers went 3-1 against Oklahoma City this season. … The Thunder, who used to be Seattle's team, were met at the Rose Garden by a handful of fans wearing Sonics' jerseys. One young girl wore a T-shirt that said "Missing my Seattle SuperSonics."

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