Trail Blazers 122, Rockets 120 (OT)
LaMarcus Aldridge set a franchise playoff record with 46 points and also grabbed 18 rebounds before fouling out as visiting Portland outlasted Houston in the opener of the Western Conference first-round series.
Damian Lillard hit the tying and go-ahead free throws with 17 seconds left in the extra session to cap a 31-point outing for the fifth-seeded Trail Blazers. Wesley Matthews scored 18 points and Nicolas Batum added 14 points and nine rebounds for Portland, which will look to take a 2-0 lead in Wednesday’s Game 2 in Houston.
Rockets guard James Harden scored 27 points but was just 8-of-28 shooting and missed a short shot at the buzzer that could have forced a second overtime. Dwight Howard added 27 points and 15 rebounds and Chandler Parsons scored 24 points for Houston.
Portland overcame a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit, eventually using an 11-0 burst to tie the score at 98 on Aldridge’s three-point play with 2:46 remaining. The Rockets took a 106-104 lead on two free throws by Harden with 7.8 seconds left before Aldridge’s putback with 2.9 seconds left forced overtime.
Jeremy Lin (14 points) scored seven of Houston’s first 12 points in the extra session, including a driving hoop to put the Rockets up 118-116 with 53.6 seconds left. Lillard’s three-point play put Portland back ahead with 44.5 seconds to play and the second-year guard calmly hit the decisive free throws after Houston’s Francisco Garcia and Howard each split two free throws.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Portland’s previous high point total for a playoff game was 45 by Bonzi Wells against the Dallas Mavericks on April 23, 2003. … Rockets F Terrence Jones added 12 points and 13 rebounds as Houston recorded a 59-54 rebounding edge. … Both teams shot poorly from 3-point range – the Trail Blazers were 9-of-27 and the Rockets were 8-of-35.