Trail Blazers at Rockets
The Portland Trail Blazers are trying to earn a spot among the top eight in the Western Conference but are having a difficult time beating teams with winning records. The Trail Blazers will get another chance to do just that when they begin a stretch of four straight against winning teams by visiting the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Portland has won nine of its last 12 games but only one of those - a 115-110 triumph over Oklahoma City on Jan. 10 - came against a team with a winning record. The Trail Blazers had a chance to polish off a 6-1 homestand on Thursday but came up just short in a 110-103 loss to the Toronto Raptors, who own the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. It’s only due to a recent two-game winning streak that the Rockets can claim status as a winning club, and they needed to overcome a 15-point deficit to knock off the Phoenix Suns on Thursday. Houston is trying to focus more on the defensive end and forced 41 turnovers in the last two contests.
TV: 5 p.m. ET, CSN Northwest (Portland), ROOT (Houston)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (24-27): Portland fell behind by 14 points in the first quarter against the Raptors and was never able to recover as a five-game winning streak came to an end. “Our first quarter defense wasn’t even close to being good enough, especially against a playoff team, a really good team like them,” Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard told reporters. “They shot the ball really well and we made a few mistakes that allowed them to get themselves going and start believing.” Lillard finished with 27 points and 11 assists for his second straight double-double and fifth in the last 11 games.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (27-25): James Harden led Houston to a 115-102 win over Miami on Tuesday with 27 points and 14 assists but needed more help on Thursday to overcome a 4-of-19 shooting effort. The All-Star got that help from the wing duo of Corey Brewer and Trevor Ariza, who combined for 46 points on 16-of-27 shooting and eight steals. Dwight Howard also made his return to the lineup on Thursday after serving a one-game suspension for making contact with a referee and added 16 rebounds, a block and a pair of steals to the defensive effort.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Trail Blazers PF Noah Vonleh (ankle) sat out Thursday’s game and is day-to-day.
2. Rockets F Terrence Jones sat out Thursday after he was in a car accident and is questionable for Saturday.
3. Harden went for 45 points and 11 assists in a 108-103 overtime home win over Portland on Nov. 18.