For the second consecutive game the Houston Rockets lose in a heartbreaker to the Portland Trail Blazers. This time it wasn’t a last second tip in being wiped away because of not getting off the fingertips in time. It was the Rockets not being able to hit the broad side of a spaceship in the fourth quarter, after building up a 13-point lead at the end of the third quarter.
The game stayed close throughout the first half. The Rockets led by one at the half. Early in the third quarter Tari Eason would leave the game with a sprained ankle and he would not return. However, that would not stop the Rockets from dropping 34 in the quarter on 13-of-24 shooting, hitting 7-of-13 from the three-point line, while holding the Blazers to 22 points. In the third quarter Reed Sheppard seemed as if he was getting back to form, Durant was getting buckets as always, and the defense was leading to points in transition with Amen Thompson and Josh Okogie.
In the fourth quarter, everything changed. The Rockets made six shots in the quarter, were 2-of-4 from the free-throw line and 1-of-17 from the three-point line. No one could hit a shot, but one player stood out more than anyone due to his continuing cold streak. Jabari Smith was horrible. There’s no other way to put it. Not only could he not make a shot, but he was getting cooked on the defensive end of the floor. Jabari had nearly as many fouls as shots made, including a brutal foul on a three-point attempt by Sidy Cissko, a career 29-percent three-point shooter. In his defense, Cissoko was 2-for-2 in this game and is shooting 32-percent on the season, but still it was a crucial mistake to foul the jump-shooter.
The Trail Blazers on the other hand scored 34 themselves in the final quarter despite their best player struggling from the field all game. The Blazers shot 10-of-19 and hit 11-of-11 from the stripe. They played team basketball. Though Deni Avdija shot 5-0f-15 he had 6 assists and 2 other Blazers scored 20+ points and Caleb Love added 18 points off the bench. They had 26 assists to the Rockets’ 21, and they shot 91.3 percent from the free-throw line. They did everything better when it mattered most. The loss takes some of the shine off of an incredible personal milestone for Kevin Durant, who scored 30 points and passed Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time NBA scoring list. He is now 7th behind Dirk Nowitzki.
It’s easy to point to the Rockets injuries as an excuse and it’s clear that the Rockets offense is struggling without Alperen Sengun, and Tari Eason being out hurt the team, but this was yet another disappoint effort by the Rockets on the road against an inferior opponent who is dealing with injuries of their own. In this crowded Western Conference, a bad week can be the difference between being a top four team and hovering around the play-in. Especially now that Sengun is and will be out for some time, the calls for playmaking help via the trade market are sure to only get louder.
On Sunday Rockets will face the Kings in Sacramento, where they most recently lost 125-124 in overtime. The Rockets will be hoping to get their “get-back” and end this stretch of road games with something positive before returning back home for a five-game home-stand. As always, we will be right here for all your pregame and post-game coverage as well as discussion during the games.