The Portland Trail Blazers hung around for a little while against the heavily-favored Houston Rockets in the Toyota Center tonight, but eventually got buried beneath superior firepower, losing 132-108. Portland held a small lead early, but Houston turned on the jets in the second period and didn’t look back until it held a 23-point lead that would not be challenged.
James Harden, who has been a bucket-making machine as of late, nearly outscored Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum and finished with a game-high 36 points. The Blazers had no sufficient answer; their star guards combined for just 38.