Recap: Anfernee Simons leads Portland Trail Blazers over Houston Rockets

Recap of Portland Trail Blazers road victory over the Houston Rockets

The Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Houston Rockets 125-110 on Friday, January 28, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the season series. With two games left to play and the two teams trending in opposite directions, Portland could very well sweep the series.

Before the game, Robert Covington (right knee; MCL sprain) and Dennis Smith Jr. (right ankle sprain, right knee; IT Band friction syndrome) were questionable but played. CJ Elleby (left leg; hamstring strain) was doubtful and did not play.

First half:

Portland won the tip and scored first via a Jusuf Nurkić bucket. Nurkić would grab three boards within the first two minutes of the game. Houston’s first points came from a three by Jae’Sean Tate. Nurkic picked up his second foul halfway through the first but remained in the game. Ben McLemore was the first Portland player off the bench, replacing CJ McCollum. The Blazers would get yet another injury scare with 4:55 in the half, with McCollum covering his eye after getting hit by Tate, sending him to the bench. He would eventually return to the action, though.

Portland led going into the half 66-53. McCollum with 15 points and three assists was the scoring leader for the Blazers. Anfernee Simons picked up his fourth foul before the half, finishing with 10 points. The Blazers would shoot 56 percent to wrap up the first half.

Second half:

Houston would heat up a bit, showing some life near the end of the third, getting Portland’s lead down to six and ending the third quarter 91-85. With 10:37 to go, the lead would go down to four, thanks to a jump shot by Christian Wood, but McLemore would respond with a three. The Rockets would try to come back, but the Blazers didn’t allow it to happen, winning 125-110 and improving to 21-28. Simons led all scorers with 27 points and six assists. Nurkić in the end tallied 25 points and 13 rebounds.

"“It’s a young team. They like to run, transition and I think we, for the most part, we did a good job and they came back, it was our mistakes. We’re lucky we got the win. That’s all.” Nurkic told Brooke Olzendam in his walk-off interview with her."

Up next for the Blazers is a matchup with the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, tip-off at an early 12:30 PM Portland time.