Trail Blazers at Rockets
James Harden just received an $80 million contract from the Houston Rockets and is performing like a franchise player. Harden scored a career-high 45 points in Friday's 109-102 win at Atlanta, has scored 82 points in his first two games for the Rockets and he will try to keep it going Saturday night in his home debut against the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers have opened coach Terry Stotts' tenure with mixed results, beating the Lakers by 10 in their home opener Wednesday and losing by 14 on Friday in Oklahoma City. Portland's best player in both games has been rookie Damian Lillard, who collected 21 points and seven assists against the Thunder.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Comcast SportsNet Northwest (Portland), Comcast SportsNet Houston
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (1-1): The Trail Blazers have allowed 106 points in both games and that is because the Thunder shot 51.3 percent after the Lakers shot 50 percent against their defense Wednesday. Wesley Matthews followed up his solid 22-point night against the Lakers by scoring 17 but was just 5-of-15 shooting. Nicolas Batum had a tough time against Oklahoma City, scoring just three points on 1-of-11 from the floor after scoring 26 against the Lakers.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (2-0): Saturday marks the one-week anniversary of Harden's acquisition from Oklahoma City and besides scoring often, he is shooting 28-of-44 from the field and 6-of-14 from beyond the arc. Houston missed 22 of 30 three-pointers in Friday's win. Chandler Parsons and Marcus Morris were each 1-for-6 from 3-point range and Carlos Delfino was 1-for-5.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Saturday will mark the home debut of point guard Jeremy Lin, whom the Rockets signed away from the Knicks in the offseason. On Friday, Lin toyed with a triple-double finishing with 21 points 10 rebounds and seven assists.
2. Houston has not opened a season with three straight wins since 2008-09.
3. The Trail Blazers lost all three meetings with the Rockets last year.
PREDICTION: Rockets 105, Trail Blazers 91