Portland Trail Blazers outlast Houston Rockets, 109-98
34. Final. 98. 169. 109
The Portland Trail Blazers, coming off their worst loss of the season yesterday after blowing a late lead, came into Houston to face the Rockets on the 2nd game of a back-to-back on the road. Instead of wilting under the pressure, the Trail Blazers thrived, and the bench more than pulled their weight to help bring home the 109-98 victory.
Recap
The Trail Blazers came out of a gate a little tentative, perhaps still sore and stinging from yesterday’s dreadful loss. The Rockets, sans Dwight Howard, did the reasonable thing by looking to James Harden for their offense, and Houston led by as many as eight in the first quarter before Portland closed the gap.
Up by just a single point, the Rockets needed to set the tone in the second quarter… instead, the Trail Blazers set it for them, as they rocketed (pun intended) ahead to a 13-point halftime lead behind C.J. McCollum and Robin Lopez, of all people. Damian Lillard, LaMarcus Aldridge, and McCollum (!) all had 12 points at the half.
The Trail Blazers started third with a steady, concerted effort as Aldridge was feasting, and the lead was stable around 15. Then the turnover bug bit, and the Rockets went on a run to bring the score to 75-68 with five minutes to go in the third. By the end of the quarter, Harden would have more free throw attempts than the entire Trail Blazers team… and now’s as good a time as any to point out the following:
Jan 23, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) celebrates after hitting the game winning shot at the buzzer against the Phoenix Suns at US Airways Center. The Rockets defeated the Suns 113-111. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
It’s ridiculous to watch Harden flail and flop and kick his legs and do somersaults and throw his head back on nearly every… single… drive, and he gets the call more often than not. It’s aggravating that he gets those calls, without penalty, even though replay shows just how much he hams it up. It makes the game worse, not only because you’re now rewarding how well you can sell a foul, but because it virtually guarantees points without earning them, and it slows the game down to a crawl.
Okay, denunciation over. The Trail Blazers blew their huge lead (sound familiar?) and found themselves up a single point heading into the fourth.
When the offense stalled, the Trail Blazers went to the one person they can rely on to stabilize things when the going gets iffy. He’s big, he’s tall, and of course I’m talking about Meyers Leonard. He scored nine straight points and grabbed a number of timely rebounds to put Portland up 90-85 with seven minutes left, and the rest of the team blinked, shook their heads, and snapped back into it.
And while no lead will ever be safe again after watching yesterday’s game against Dallas, no matter how little time is left, the Trail Blazers did more than enough to put the game away and escape with the double-digit victory, 109-98.
Players
Damian Lillard went back into his long-range shooting slump, but he did almost everything else right, hitting all of his non-three attempts and getting 23 points with five boards, five dimes, two steals, and just one turnover.
LaMarcus Aldridge was a perfect 8-8 from the line and got 24 points, but only five rebounds… but he had two blocks! …but four turnovers… but two steals!… but missed all his threes. It wasn’t his best game, but as always, his presence looms just as large even when he is less than dominating.
Robin Lopez led the team with a positive 16 +/- and only missed a single shot en route to 14 points.
Meyers Leonard and (more recently) C.J. McCollum have really stepped up their game. They scored 12 points apiece, while Leonard had six boards, a block, and that crucial stretch to start the fourth that kept Portland from drowning. The bench scored 37 points tonight. Getting anything in that ballpark consistently would be a game-changer for this team.
Steve Blake had 7-4-3, but two turnovers in what was a more or less solid showing.
Notes
- Harden’s 23 free throw attempts were a season-high and ended up being the exact amount that the Trail Blazers shot as a team. He finished the game with 45 points.
- The Trail Blazers deserve a lot of credit. That game last night was deflating in a way you wouldn’t expect a regular season game to be deflating. They had to play again tonight, on the road, against a team that will challenge them in the playoff race, and they won. That shows maturity.
- This team plays much better with Lopez. Getting Joel Freeland back will be pure cream.
What’s next?
The Trail Blazers come home to play the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, February 11th at 7:00 p.m. PST.