NBA

Oklahoma City ThunderVERSUSPortland Trail Blazers

2018-19 · Western Conference First Round Game 5 · Apr 23, 2019

#5 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #4 Portland Trail Blazers

Portland entered Game 5 with an opportunity to close the series against Oklahoma City on its home floor.

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Game lineups

Starting fives

Verified starters

Home starting five

Portland Trail Blazers

StarterAAAl-Farouq Aminu

StarterCMCJ McCollum

StarterDLDamian Lillard

StarterEFEnes Freedom

Before the game

Spoiler-free context

Portland had been swept out of the previous postseason and then lost starting center Jusuf Nurkić to a broken leg weeks before the playoffs. Oklahoma City, built around Russell Westbrook and Paul George, had swept the four-game regular-season series and entered as a popular upset pick—yet the Trail Blazers returned home one win from eliminating them.

Portland led 3–1 and could close the series at home; Oklahoma City was playing to keep its season alive.
The matchup had become openly antagonistic, with Lillard and Westbrook trading words and gestures throughout the series.
Lillard had already ended a playoff series at the buzzer in 2014; this game gave him a chance to author another closeout moment.

Sources: NBA game recap · Trail Blazers retrospective

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