Blazers offer chance for rare road victory
PORTLAND, Ore. — If there was potential for a letdown as the Rockets go from facing a championship contender to going against the team with the second-worst record in the Western Conference, the Rockets should be in no danger of looking past the Trail Blazers.
Their own issues on the road, even against struggling teams, should prevent the Rockets from assuming anything in any matchup. But if not, the Trail Blazers stunned the Rockets in Toyota Center 137-131 in the previous meeting.
Including the 6-2 run to close the fourth quarter, capped by a Jerami Grant 3 at the buzzer to force overtime, the Blazers had outscored the Rockets 15-4 in less than four minutes to finish regulation and start overtime, finishing with the most points the Blazers have scored or the Rockets had at the time allowed this season.
Wrecked by injuries this season, and with a list of key players still out, the Trail Blazers are getting healthier with Grant and Matisse Thybulle both returning from injuries on Wednesday. They also have been playing better since the AllStar break.
The improvement has been evident, even with the Blazers severely shorthanded. Last month, they lost consecutive games to the Timberwolves and Thunder by a combined 85 points. This week, they lost to the Timberwolves and Thunder again, but by just four points against Minnesota and eight on Wednesday against Oklahoma City after closing to within two with four minutes left.
The Rockets snapped their nine-game road losing streak in Phoenix before splitting the back-to-back in Toyota Center, running away from the Spurs in the fourth quarter before the Clippers ran past them down the stretch on Wednesday. But the Rockets are just 6-24 on the road. Only the Pistons have fewer road wins.
Surging center
Alperen Şengün followed the finest game of his career with one of the best. His only game against the Trail Blazers this season was not bad, either.
The Rockets center went from Tuesday’s game against the Spurs when he scored 45 points with 16 rebounds and five steals, all establishing or matching career highs, to getting 23 points with 19 rebounds and a career-high 14 assists against the Clippers.
Along the way, he dominated the Spurs when he was defended one-on-one and then excelled against the Clippers when he was double- and triple-teamed.
He likely will see more of the latter. The Blazers used some zone against the Rockets, as the Suns did in a pair of games last week, to test the Rockets’ ability to hit the 3s left open by paying extra attention to Şengün inside.
Şengün still nearly came up with a triple-double in the first meeting, scoring 30 points with 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Playing keep away
The Rockets committed just eight turnovers in the first meeting, a game that went to overtime. But half were in the fourth quarter, helping the Blazers keep pace to take the win late.
The Blazers have scored an average of 20.3 points off turnovers since the All-Star break, second most in the NBA and twice as many as they scored against the Rockets.
The Trail Blazers can be extremely disruptive. They are second in turnovers forced and third in deflections per game.
The Rockets had been increasingly turnover-prone since the break but had just eight against the Clippers on Wednesday. Guard Fred VanVleet had his fourth game this season with at least eight assists and no turnovers. In the past three games, he has had 29 assists and just three turnovers.
Keep the glass clean
The Rockets have excelled at limiting secondchance scoring, especially lately. But that was a problem against the Trail Blazers, who excel at crashing the offensive glass.
The Blazers scored 23 points off their 13 offensive rebounds against the Rockets and are ranked fourth in second-chance points per game. They do not score second-chance points just because they miss a lot of shots. The Trail Blazers rank fourth in offensive rebounding percentage.
The Rockets give up 13.4 second-chance points per game, ranking 10th best in points allowed off offensive rebounds. They have given up just 12.5 since the All-Star break.
The matchup also pits strengths at the end of the court. The Rockets have averaged 16.9 second-chance points per game since the All-Star break, but the Blazers have allowed just 9.9, second fewest in the league.
Shootout on tap?
Jalen Green cooled off from deep after shooting well in Phoenix, but he has continued to score well. The Blazers’ Anfernee Simons is on a good roll, not unlike the 33 points on 13-of-20 shooting he put up in the first meeting.
In his past 20 games, beginning with the last game vs. Portland, Green has averaged 20.6 points to lead the Rockets in that stretch, making 43% of his shots, with 5.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. After sinking 13 3pointers on 44.8% shooting in the two games last week against the Suns, he has made just 3-of-16 3s.
Green had 29 points on 12of-24 shooting against the Blazers. Simons had 29 points against the Thunder on Wednesday and has averaged 23.3 points in his 17 games that began with the game against the Rockets.
Rising and falling stars
Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. did not play in the first meeting. The Blazers’ Scoot Henderson, another Rising Stars selection, did but has been out since AllStar weekend.
Smith has averaged 15.1 points in his past seven games after averaging 10.9 points in his previous nine games. But he has made just 38.6% of his shots in that stretch.
Henderson, who made 4of-12 shots in the first meeting, is expected back this weekend, but more likely in the second game of the Blazers’ back-to-back on Saturday.