Victor Oladipo scored 25 points, Christian Wood added a double-double and the host Houston Rockets erased an early 20-point deficit in defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, 104-101, on Thursday, January 28 (Friday, January 29, Philippine time).
Oladipo scored a driving layup with 26.2 seconds left to secure a three-point lead for Houston, which sealed its fourth consecutive victory with free throws from Wood and Eric Gordon down the stretch.
Portland hit 17-of-41 three-pointers but failed to force overtime when Anfernee Simons missed a contested trey at the buzzer.
Simons hit 4-of 9-from long range and scored 14 off the bench, complementing the sharpshooting of Damian Lillard (5-of-11 on three-pointers, 30 points) and Gary Trent Jr, who had a stretch of 3 consecutive treys in the 3rd quarter and two in a row in the 4th that cut what was a 13-point deficit to one at 86-85.
Trent scored 23 points for the Trail Blazers, who were without injured starters CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic.
Wood returned from a three-game injury hiatus and paired 22 points with 12 rebounds.
John Wall added 20 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists for Houston, which trailed 30-10 with 2:51 left in the first. Oladipo added 7 rebounds and 5 assists.
The Rockets overcame what was a miserable start, missing their first 7 shots and 13-of-16 while the Trail Blazers raced to a 25-8 lead.
Lillard had 13 points and 3 assists in the opening quarter to pace Portland, but Houston found a rhythm by turning defense into offense, fueling its comeback with transition points.
Houston tallied 15 fastbreak points in the 2nd quarter, and eventually cut the deficit to 4 at 39-35 with 5:27 left before halftime.
Lillard responded with a driving layup, assisted on an Enes Kanter (13 points, 13 rebounds) basket and then hit a three-pointer to momentarily stem the tide.
But the Rockets kept running and dunking, with a transition dunk by Wood resulting in the first lead of the game for Houston at 49-48 with 1:37 left in the first half. – Rappler.com
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