The visiting Portland Trail Blazers (25 - 27) made good on their trip to Toyota Center on Saturday evening as they defeated the Houston Rockets (27 - 26) 96 - 79. This was a huge win for the Trail Blazers, who came in sitting at ninth place, just 3 games behind the seventh place Rockets. The Blazers came in focused and dominated from the start. Once they took the lead with nine minutes to go in the first quarter they did not let go. Portland stretched it to a 32 - point lead by the five - minute mark of the third quarter and held strong as Houston battled back, bringing it as close as 11 points. This marks Portland's sixth win in seven games. The Trail Blazers turned the ball over 22 times and only shot 40 percent from the field but their 20 offensive rebounds and defense that forced 23 turnovers and held the Rockets to only 32 percent shooting, allowed them some breathing room. Damian Lillard led the team in scoring, with 21 points (7 - 20 FG, 3 - 9 3Pt, 4 - 4 FT), along with 10 assists and four rebounds, in 36 minutes. Five other players scored in double digits for Portland, including C.J. McCollum who finished with 16, along with seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. Maurice Harkless chipped in 14 points, six rebounds and two steals, in 30 minutes. This win evened up the season series at 1 - 1. James Harden did everything he could to avoid this result. He put up 33 points (7 - 18 FG, 4 - 9 3Pt, 15 - 18 FT), eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, in 35 minutes. Harden scored all but two of Houston's 17 points in the third quarter as they began to battle back, but also tallied 10 turnovers in the blowout. The Rockets had a lot of trouble scoring the ball, such that only four players had scored points after three quarters. Dwight Howard was one of those four players, and finished with a solid 17 points (6 - 10 FG, 5 - 8 FT), 14 rebounds, four steals and two assists, in 40 minutes. No one else scored more than eight points for the Rockets, who shot 7 - 36 from deep as a team. The Rockets will begin a five - game road trip, which includes two visits to the Moda Center in Portland, with a match in Golden State on Monday. The Trail Blazers will be in Memphis to face the Grizzlies on Tuesday.
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 "PlayerStat(G,'CJ McCollum') has 2 Assists ,has 16 3-pointers attempted ,has 7 3-pointers made ,has 4 Field goals attempted ."
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 "PlayerStat(G,'James Harden') has 3 Assists ,has 9 3-pointers attempted ,has 4 3-pointers made ,has 18 Field goals attempted ,has 7 Field goals made ,has 18 Free throws attempted ,has 15 Free throws made ,has 2 Minutes played ,has 33 Personal fouls ,has 8 Points ,has 3 Total rebounds ,has 10 Steals ."]