Trail Blazers at Rockets
The Houston Rockets are off to a dreadful 1-4 start and attempt to snap a three-game slide when they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday. Reigning MVP James Harden (hamstring) will miss second straight game for a squad that has lost its three previous home games by an average of 16.7 points.
The Rockets won an NBA-best 65 games and took the Golden State Warriors to a Game 7 in the Western Conference finals last season but have been colossal disappointments at the start of the current campaign. "It's a different team. It's not the same team," forward PJ Tucker told reporters. "I hate talking about last year anymore because it's gone. It's not the same team so we have to figure it out." Portland is 2-1 on a four-game road excursion after posting a 103-93 win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday - the points being the fewest the Trail Blazers have allowed this season. Star point guard Damian Lillard scored a season-low 16 points after scoring more than 40 in consecutive games.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (4-2): Second-year big man Zach Collins scored a career-best 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting against the Pacers and is making a strong case for more playing time. Collins has scored at least 13 points in each of the past three games and has reached double digits four times overall while averaging 11.8 points. Shooting guard CJ McCollum also had 17 points on Monday and he has reached double figures in all six games, including three 20-point efforts.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (1-4): Forward Carmelo Anthony made his first start of the season in Friday's 133-113 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and he made six 3-pointers en route to a season-best 24 points. The 34-year-old, who scored 22 against Utah two nights earlier, is in his first season with the team and he is unsure why the troubles have been so substantial. "I can't really pinpoint it at this point right now," Anthony told reporters. "We're still all trying to just figure it out. I know we keep saying that it's early but there's some things we have to figure out quickly just to try to get this thing rolling."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Rockets won all four of last season's meetings and have prevailed in seven of the past eight matchups.
2. Portland SF Maurice Harkless (knee) is expected to miss his second straight contest.
3. Houston SG Eric Gordon is 8-of-35 shooting over the past two games, including 2-of-18 from 3-point range.