After winning four games in a row, and eight out of their last ten, the Portland Trail Blazers will take on the Houston Rockets in a nationally televised game on TNT. The Rockets won their previous two meetings this season against Portland. They will have a much tougher assignment on Thursday night at Moda Center as Portland is red hot as of late.
Blazers upping their form at the right time
Terry Stotts' squad has been playing excellent basketball in March, owning the NBA's best record for this month at 12-3. They are coming off of a huge victory over direct playoff rivals, the Denver Nuggets, and are now at the eighth spot heading towards a matchup against the Golden State Warriors in the first round.
During the month of March, Trail Blazers' all-star point guard Damian Lillard is averaging 28.9 points and his backcourt partner CJ McCollum is averaging 23.5 points while shooting nearly 50% from three point territory. Heading into tonight's matchup against the Rockets, McCollum said: "I think everybody will be ready to play. We understand what's at stake, we're at home and playing against a good Rockets team. We've got a lot of home games left and we have to win them if we want to make the playoffs."
Portland's newly acquired big man from Bosnia, Jusuf Nurkic, has also been playing well in March. He is averaging 15.5 points and 11.1 rebounds. Nurkic had a career night two nights ago against Denver, when he scored a career high 33 points.
Following tonight's game against the Houston Rockets, in a pregame interview he said: "We have a long way to go, two weeks are left for us in the regular season. We want to be better and right now we're focused on tonight's game against the Rockets. My goal is to be consistent in this league and I will try to do my part."
Harden ready to put on a show again
The Rockets are coming into this matchup with much more confidence, as they have won the previous two meetings this season against Portland.
They are led by a well known MVP candidate, James Harden. Harden is averaging 29.3 points this season -- second-best in the NBA. In his previous two meetings against Portland "The Beard" averaged 32 points and 12 assists. The Rockets are hoping he will lead them again tonight.
