Blazers Rip Rockets, 110-102, as Harden, Westbrook Struggle
Good and Bad Deja Vu. Sizing Issues. Unlucky 13.
Old habits came back to haunt these Rockets on Tuesday night, as Houston fell to Portland, 110-102, for its first bubble loss of the season. The Blazers dominated on the glass, and used their size (and Damian Lillard) to take advantage of the game. Gary Trent Jr. hit some huge shots to keep Portland ahead as the Rockets tried to creep closer. Ultimately, it was none other than brief ex-Rocket Carmelo Anthony hit the dagger three-point shot to seal the win for the Blazers. James Harden and Russell Westbrook struggled. Brodie’s streak of 37 straight games with 20 points ended. Westbrook had only 15 points, and was a little too out of control in the clutch. Harden had another sub-par game with 23 points, and the Rockets just got outplayed by a Portland team who is much better than their record shows. The Blazers have a real shot at sneaking into the playoffs and playing the Lakers in the first round.
Jusuf Nurkic, Hassan Whiteside, and Zach Colllins all exposed Houston’s small-ball line-up, as the Rockets were outmanned and outmuscled on the glass. Nurkic especially dominated, scoring 18 points and snagging 19 boards. Still, Houston had a chance to win this game. They just didn’t execute down the stretch. The shooting of Dame, Trent Jr., and Melo’s clutch dagger won the match for Portland, along with their huge size advantage.
The Rockets have now fallen behind by 13 or more points early in the contest in each of their first three bubble games. Not a good strategy to live by if you want to consistently win basketball games. Living on the edge can be fun, but only for so long. Until reality comes back to bite. Houston needs to avoid falling in early holes. It takes too much exerted effort to trail by double-digits every night, and then try and make a comeback. Hopefully the Rockets reverse their trend in their next game against the Lakers. LeBron won’t be playing, which means Houston will let their guard down, but they can’t. Someone’s gotta step up and keep this team from reverting back to bad habits. And it won’t be Russ, the Rockets will miss his energy was he will be out with an injury as well. Houston needs Harden to step up and get back to the level of play he displayed in the opener. Mind-shaking step-back threes, strong drives to the lane, and clutch play by one of the league’s best. Old habits Houston desperately need to return on Thursday night.