Houston wasn't able to rebound after their tough loss to Golden State, falling to Portland 117-107. The Rockets struggled from downtown, hitting just 8-of-34 shots from 3-point range. They're hovering at third place in the Western Conference where they can't really move around -- they're 6.5 games back from San Antonio, but five games ahead of fourth-place Utah. The Spurs essentially clinch at least the second spot with one more win. For the Trail Blazers, the win was very important as they now have the eighth seed secured by 1.5 games over Denver.
Harden can't do it all himself for Rockets
A weird statline for shooting guard James Harden (29.3 ppg, 11.2 apg) consisted of 30 points on a very inefficient 11-for-30 from the field. Most of those misses came from downtown where he only hit 2-of-13 3-point attempts. He also hit 6-of-7 free throw attempts. Harden ultimately took a third of the Rockets' shot attempts on the night.
Harden was held under 30 points in his prior two games. Shooting guard Lou Williams (17.8 ppg) also struggled getting the rock into the net by going 5-for-16 from the field and missing all five 3-point attempts. Small forward Trevor Ariza (11.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg) was more efficient hitting 7-of-11 from the field and finishing with 17 points.
He's averaged 18 points in the last three games.
Trail Blazers dominate from downtown
While the Rockets struggled from behind the perimeter, the Blazers shined by hitting 13-of-33 3-point attempts. Point guard Damian Lillard (26.7 ppg, 5.9 apg) was the player of the night with 31 points and 11 assists. He went 4-for-9 from downtown, made all seven free throw attempts, and the team was +12 on the scoreboard with him in the lineup.
The Trail Blazers are running out of time to get anywhere beyond the eighth seed. They remain four games back of Memphis with seven games remaining, and Golden State looks poised to stay at the top spot.
Up next for the Rockets is a rematch with Golden State on Friday night. For Portland, they'll be hosting Phoenix on Saturday night.
