Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: The undermanned and overmatched Portland Trail Blazers fought hard against the Houston Rockets on the road Monday night, keeping things competitive for about three quarters; then the playoff-hunting Rockets woke up and cruised to an easy 110-92 win.
At this point, you could almost put a template on the recaps and fill in the player and team names Mad Libs-style.
This time around, the undermanned Blazers, starting an all-rookie lineup for the second consecutive game, made their money in the first half with aggressive drives to the basket.