Portland Trail Blazers vs. Houston Rockets: Live Score, Highlights and Reaction
It was a game of runs, but the Portland Trail Blazers ultimately made the final, most important one, downing the Houston Rockets 109-98 behind a strong defensive fourth quarter.
James Harden tied his season high with 45 points (11-of-25 FG) and re-set the league record for both free throws attempted (23) and free throws made (19). He also had nine rebounds and eight assists. However, the Rockets as a team shot just 38 percent and had difficulty defending the interior.
LaMarcus Aldridge had a team-high 24 points, recovering from a slow 2-of-7 start. His ability to exploit Dwight Howard's absence was a leading factor behind the Blazers' eventual victory.
Damian Lillard scored 23, proving to be a major player in Portland's second- and fourth-quarter runs.
C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard each scored 12, with the former spearheading the end-of-the-first-half run while the latter opened the fourth quarter with nine-straight points, setting the tone for Portland's fourth-quarter dominance.
Outside of Harden, only two Rockets scored in double digits, with Josh Smith posting 16 and Donatas Motiejunas scoring 10. Smith was 4-of-7 from deep, playing a crucial role in Houston's third-quarter run in which they fought back from a 17-point deficit before entering the final period down just one.
The win snaps a six-game road losing streak for the Blazers and should invigorate the locker after morale sank when the team blew a big fourth-quarter lead days earlier against the Dallas Mavericks. They'll look to carry the momentum into their next game, when they host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
Houston next travels to Phoenix where they'll take on the Suns on Tuesday.
