
Depending on your point of view, the game played Friday night between the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets at Toyota Center could be described as either a great defensive effort by both teams, or a game where neither team could shoot the broad side of a barn. Any way that you look at it, the Rockets shot 46% while the Trail Blazers shot a measly 42%. Bottom line: Houston held off a late rally in edging Portland 86-83, taking a 2-1 lead in their series.
Most of the Blazers’ problems came, courtesy of 4-of-16 shooting early on; Rockets center Yao Ming sat out early on the second quarter and Luis Scola converted a 3-point play. Houston would hit six consecutive shots, capped by a dunk by Von Wafer, to stretch their lead to 34-22; they would shoot 12-of-15 in the quarter as they would take a 48-37 cushion into halftime.
Scola would get whistled with his fourth foul and hit the bench with 6:57 left in the third quarter and a LaMarcus Aldridge jumper cut the Rockets’ lead to 54-44; unfortunately for the Trail Blazers, they could never quite catch up to the Rockets.
Houston’s high scorer was Scola with 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while Shane Battier added 16 with 4 rebounds, an assist, 2 steals and 4 blocks; Ming, despite scoring only 7 points, grabbed 13 boards along with an assist and 3 blocks.
Portland was led by Brandon Roy with 19 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block while Rudy Fernandez came from off the bench to add 17 (including five 3-pointers) with 3 assists and 2 steals; Steve Blake chipped in 16 (including four treys) with 3 rebounds, 10 assists and a steal. Houston and Portland meet again on Sunday at Toyota Center as the Rockets look to enhance their 2-1 series lead.


April 25th, 2009
Stephen Rhodes
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