Portland Trail Blazers Beat Houston Rockets at Home, Win Crucial Season Series

LaMarcus Aldridge and the Portland Trail Blazers eked out a crucial victory last night, edging James Harden and the Houston Rockets 105-100. Both teams are almost certainly headed to the playoffs, but the victory gives Portland an important tiebreaker which might well prove critical when the regular season ends.

Unsurprisingly, the game—featuring two of the league’s top teams—was well-represented on social media. Entering last night, the biggest question surrounded Portland’s newly acquired Arron Afflalo, whose role on the team became unexpectedly important when the Blazers’ Wes Matthews tore his Achilles tendon last week, as noted by Morpheus:

"

Is Arron #Afflalo the Long-Term Answer at Shooting Guard for the #Portland #Blazers http://t.co/kPNIfsmYQZ #Basketball #NBA #News

— Morpheus (@6Morpheus) March 10, 2015"

Grantland’s Michael Pina discussed Afflalo’s newfound role earlier this week, as did the Bleacher Report’s Frank Cesare: 

Matthews was one of Portland’s most reliable pieces. Over the course of his five-year career, Matthews has played at least 69 games in every season, per Basketball-Reference.com. He was a consistent scorer, a reliable three-point shooter and easily one of the league’s better defenders. Most are dubious that Afflalo can replace Matthews in Portland’s search for a title. 

However, Afflalo, despite slightly subpar performance so far this year, has a stronger track record than some give him credit for. He scored over 18 points per game last season, shooting over 45 percent from the field and nearly 43 percent from long range. And while the Blazers may have acquired him as a backup, he has demonstrated the ability to be an effective starting guard. He has even shown flashes of clutch play. 

To be blunt, Afflalo had a bad game last night. He shot 2-of-13 from the field, finishing with nine points and a minus-nine plus/minus rating. He had three turnovers and just one assist. His future with Portland is still very much uncertain. But Aldridge, who scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, compensated for Afflalo’s rough night.

The game was close the whole way. Portland led by one point entering halftime, and neither team ever led by more than 11. Houston’s Corey Brewer scored 17 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, and Houston trailed 101-100 with just over 15 seconds remaining. But Afflalo knocked down two free throws, and Brewer could not convert his subsequent long-range attempt. 

Harden, Houston’s MVP candidate and foul-drawer extraordinaire, struggled his way to 18 points on 7-of-19 shooting. Harden took just five free throws, well below his season average. The Twitter account James Harden News highlighed Harden's performance:

The game's highlight play, however, came from Houston's Josh Smith. Bleacher Report provided highlights:

Houston (43-21) sits in fourth place in the Western Conference. Portland (42-20) leads the Rockets by percentage points. Given their brutally competitive conference, this was an important game for both teams; by winning, Portland is guaranteed a higher seed should they tie the Rockets at season’s end. 

Houston plays at Utah Thursday night, while the Trail Blazers will host Detroit on Saturday. The New Orleans Pelicans stand a half-game ahead of Oklahoma City for the Western Conference’s eighth playoff spot; both the Trail Blazers and Rockets will undoubtedly keep an eye on that race, as some combination of those four teams seems a likely first-round playoff matchup.