HOUSTON — The Portland Trail Blazers showed a little early-season guts by defeating some of the best teams in the Western Conference.
They torched the Golden State Warriors. They shocked the Denver Nuggets. They handed the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder their first defeat of the season.
But it was a different story Friday night in Texas.
The Houston Rockets had their way with the Blazers in an NBA cup matchup at the Toyota Center, cruising to a 140-116 runaway win before 18,055 in Houston.
After a competitive first half that featured memorable plays and momentum swings, the Rockets pulled away at the start of the third quarter and never looked back, winning for the eighth time in the last nine games.
Kevin Durant put on a show, Jabari Smith Jr. scored inside and out — and taunted the Blazers’ bench while doing so — and Alperen Sengun did a little bit of everything as Houston (8-3) strengthened its early-season stranglehold on one of the top spots in the Western Conference standings.
The loss ensured that the Blazers (6-6) would complete their first extended trip of the season with a losing record. It dropped them to a 1-3 on a five-game voyage, which opened with losses at Orlando, Miami and a win at New Orleans.
Things started to unravel for the Blazers at the start of the third quarter, when an ominous beginning turned into an overwhelming deficit.
Deni Avdija opened the second half with one of his patented aggressive drives to the hoop. But he was met with resistance by the Houston defense at the rim, found himself trapped in midair with nowhere to go, and tossed the ball out of bounds for a turnover. It was a taste of things to come.
Sengun swished a three on the other end, Jrue Holiday responded with another Blazers turnover and Smith turned it into a fast-break dunk. Just like that, the Rockets led 74-60 and the route was on.
Before you knew it, after Smith swished a three-pointer in front of the Blazers’ bench — and shouted a few choice words in their direction — Houston’s lead had ballooned to 23 points.
It swelled to 30 in the fourth quarter as the Blazers suffered their most lopsided loss of the young season.
TOP PERFORMERS
Durant put on a show in the first half, scoring 20 points, and he finished with a game-high 30 points on 12-for-19 shooting. Sengun nearly recorded a triple-double, recording 25 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. And Smith added 22 points and five rebounds for Houston.
Avdija led the Blazers with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
NBA cup
The loss dealt a blow to the Blazers’ chances of advancing out of group play in the NBA Cup, dropping their record to 1-1.
They opened with an impressive 109-107 win over the Nuggets last month. But margin of victory plays a factor in advancing to the knockout round, so Friday’s lopsided loss won’t help.
The Blazers are competing in perhaps the most challenging group — West Group C — which includes the Nuggets, Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors.
Houston, we have a reunion
The visit to Houston was a reunion for Blazers interim coach Tiago Splitter, who served as an assistant during the 2023-24 season under Rockets coach Ime Udoka.
Splitter acknowledged before the game that it felt a little “weird” returning to a city he called home for a year, but that he looked forward to facing his old team.
As he conducted a pregame interview, multiple former colleagues interrupted to say hello and exchange handshakes, and Splitter ducked into Udoka’s office about an hour before tipoff to catch up.
“I had many good times here with the Rockets and with these people,” Splitter said. “I’m very grateful for the year that I had here.”
Next up
The Blazers end their five-game trip Sunday, when they visit the Dallas Mavericks at 4:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center.
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