Ferguson doesn’t miss time despite hard fall

PORTLAND — Thunder guard Terrance Ferguson took his usual spot in the starting lineup, two days after a scary fall, followed by a hard foul in Los Angeles.

“We need him to take his open shots, especially from the corners, but the biggest thing we need from him, we need his defense,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said at shootaround Friday. “We need him to play really good defense, and he’ll be tested tonight in a lot of different ways, whether it’s with (Damian) Lillard or (CJ)

McCollum or anybody else. But his defense I think for us is something that’s critical.”

Ferguson left late in the fourth quarter of the Thunder’s 107-100 win over the Lakers Wednesday. The medical staff determined that he did not have a concussion, and he did not miss any time with the team.

“Terrance is a pretty tough kid and good competitor, so he’ll be ready to go tonight,” Donovan said before Friday’s game vs. Portland.

Donovan was right about Ferguson being tested. McCollum baited him into jumping the wrong way three minutes into the game and drove past him. McCollum missed the shot, but

Al-Farouq Aminu tipped it in. The Thunder held McCollum to three points and one assist in the first quarter.

When he came back in the second quarter, Ferguson knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Trail Blazers’ lead to three points. It wasn’t from the corner, but it was open.

Nader remains in the rotation

With Alex Abrines still out for personal reasons,

Abdel Nader checked into the game with 2:43 remaining in the first quarter. He was coming off back-toback games in which he had solid performances on both ends of the floor.

Early 3-pointers

The Thunder, which has struggled from the 3-point line this season, started the night beyond the arc right. OKC shot 50 percent (3-of-6) from beyond the arc in the first quarter. Paul George made two of those on three tries, contributing to his 13 first quarter points. Patrick

Patterson made his one and only shot from downtown in the first quarter.

Patterson has made 3-pointers in three of the Thunder’s past four games.

That pace fell off for the Thunder in the second quarter, when the team made just two more 3s to go 5-of-17 in the first half.