Trail Blazers 96, Rockets 79
HOUSTON -- Guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum paced a balanced offensive attack as the Portland Trail Blazers throttled the Houston Rockets 96-79 on Saturday at Toyota Center.
Portland (25-27) won for the sixth time in seven games and improved to 10-3 since Jan. 10. Lillard had 21 points and 10 assists and McCollum added 16 points and seven rebounds as the Blazers closed within one game of the Rockets (27-26) in the loss column in the Western Conference.
Houston guard James Harden scored a game-high 33 points and added eight rebounds. He also committed 10 of the Rockets' 23 turnovers, which resulted in 30 Portland points.
Center Dwight Howard posted a double-double (17 points, 14 rebounds) for Houston, which led only once (5-3 early in the first quarter) and trailed by as many as 32.
The Rockets shot 32.5 percent from the floor, including 7 of 36 on 3-pointers. The Houston offense was so dreadful that no one outside of Harden, Howard and forward Trevor Ariza scored until guard Patrick Beverley converted a layup with 2:01 remaining in the first half.
The Houston bench remained scoreless until guard Marcus Thornton made a layup with 11:18 left. He became just the fifth Rockets player to score.
The Blazers' bench outscored the Rockets' 24-12, with Houston getting its bench points during extended garbage time.
Guard Gerald Henderson had 16 points in 28 minutes to pace the Portland bench.
Portland shot 52.4 percent from the field (11 of 21) in the first quarter but ran away from Houston early in the second, turning a 13-2 run into a 42-25 lead.
The Rockets responded with just two more field goals before Beverley made the first of his two baskets, crumbling under a rash of turnovers and missed shots as Portland extended its lead to 55-34 on a layup from forward Maurice Harkless with 40.2 seconds left.
Harkless added 14 points and six rebounds as six Blazers scored in double figures. The Blazers finished with a plus-11 advantage on the boards.
NOTES: Rockets F Terrence Jones is set to begin concussion protocol after being involved in an auto accident on Wednesday. Jones did not play Thursday night in Phoenix, was released from the hospital on Friday, and is out indefinitely. ... Trail Blazers F Noah Vonleh missed his second consecutive game with a left ankle sprain. ... Rockets G James Harden has steadily improved his turnover rate in recent weeks, particularly in the previous eight games following the acquisition of F Josh Smith. During that stretch, Harden is averaging 2.9 turnovers per game after averaging 4.7 turnovers prior to Smith's arrival.