The Portland Trail Blazers (35 - 17) defeated the Houston Rockets (35 - 16) 109 - 98 on Sunday. After voicing his displeasure regarding being looked over for an All-Star spot, Damian Lillard was the beneficiary of the Clippers' Blake Griffin having to undergo surgery for a staph infection, and Lillard will now be headed to the All-Star Game in Griffin's stead. Lillard celebrated with an efficient 23 points on 6 - of - 10 shooting from the field and 10 - of - 11 from the line. He struggled with his shot over the last couple weeks, so it's possible the announcement that he'll be an All-Star could have relaxed Lillard. Meyers Leonard put up a nice game off the bench, scoring 12 points and pulling down six rebounds in just 15 minutes, while showing off his range on 2 - of - 4 three - point attempts. The win helped the Trail Blazers secure a third victory in their last four games, with their lone loss coming to the Mavericks on Saturday. Portland lost five of their final six games at the end of January, but their recent play has assuaged most concerns about that rough stretch. James Harden is like the Katniss Everdeen of the NBA; he's on fire. On Sunday, he scored a game - high 45 points for his fifth 40 - point game of the season. He got some help from Josh Smith, with Smith hitting a career - high four three - pointers for the third time in the last six games, showing off what may be an improved jumper thanks to the Rockets' coaching. Donatas Motiejunas was the only other Rockets player to finish with double - digit points as the team shot a poor 38 percent from the field and 68 percent from the free - throw line. Despite the loss, the Rockets have won six of the eight games they've played since Dwight Howard went down with his most recent knee injury, proving that they can continue to win even without Howard. They'll play the Suns in Phoenix on Tuesday. The Trail Blazers will return home to host the Lakers on Wednesday.
["TeamStat(G,'Rockets') has 38 Percentage of field goals ,has 16 Losses ,has 98 Total points ,has 35 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Trail Blazers') has 17 Percentage of field goals ,has 109 Losses ,has 35 Total points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Damian Lillard') has 10 3-pointers attempted ,has 6 3-pointers made ,has 11 Field goals attempted ,has 10 Field goals made ,has 23 Free throws attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Meyers Leonard') has 4 3-pointers attempted ,has 2 3-pointers made ,has 15 Field goals attempted ,has 12 Field goals made ,has 6 Free throws attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Donatas Motiejunas') has 8 3-pointers attempted ,has 6 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'James Harden') has 4 3-pointers attempted ,has 45 3-pointers made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Josh Smith') has 4 3-pointers attempted ,has 6 3-pointers made ."]