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Prior to the Oklahoma City Thunder-Portland Trail Blazers game on Thursday night, it was announced that Fabricio Oberto abruptly retired, due to a heart condition.

Oberto was signed by the Trail Blazers to help shore up the center position, with Greg Oden and Joel Przybilla healing from knee injuries. In addition, Portland lost Elliot Williams for the season to have surgery done on his dislocated right patella.

Also, Rudy Fernandez sat out this game due to back trouble; thus, the Trail blazers had just 10 players suited up.

You wouldn’t know it from the effort they exerted for 53 minutes as they took the Thunder to the limit. But saome late free throws by Russell Westbrook with six seconds left in overtime helped Oklahoma City nip Portland 107-106 at the Rose Garden.

The Thunder went on a 9-0 halfway through the second quarter to take a 43-38 lead, but the Trail Blazers came back to take a seven-point lead at the intermission.

LaMarcus Aldridge hit a jumper that put Portland up 68-55 in the third quarter, their largest lead of the game. But Oklahoma City would clse to within 81-79 on James Harden’s jumper then ted the game on a Kevin Durant fadeaway jumper.

The Thunder’s Serge Ibaka tied the game with just 10.2 seconds left in regulation and Brandon roy missed a long jumper at the horn, sending the game into overtime.

Harden gave the Thunder the lead at 103-100 in the extra period on a layup and free throw; Andre Miller missed a layup for the Trail Blazers, but Roy hit a pair of free throws with 40.7 seconds left.

Durant missed a jumper from the top of the key, yet Portland couldn’t secure the rebound. Nicolas Batum fouled Durant, who hit two free throws with just 13.7 seconds left; Wesley Matthews’ attempted layup rested on the edge of the rim before falling away. Shortly thereafter, Westbrook drained a pair of free throws, sealing the win for Oklahoma City.

Durant and Westbrook shared high scoring honors for the Thunder with 28 points apiece – with Durant grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists along with 3 blocks while Westbrook also grabbed 11 boards along with 5 assists. Jeff Green added 19 with 9 rebounds and an assist.

The Trail Blazers had six players score in double-digits, led by Aldridge with 22 points, 4 rebounds and an assist while Roy added 19 with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and a block. Batum and Miller each scored 16, with Batum grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 2 assists along with a steal while Miller grabbed 6 boards, dished out 11 assists along with 2 steals.

Oklahoma City (3-2) plays again on Sunday night when they host the Boston Celtics while Portland (4-2) remain at home to host the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.