The Houston Rockets defeated the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, 126 - 109, in a high - scoring affair on Thursday evening at Toyota Center. James Harden and the Rockets (7 - 5) certainly did not let Wednesday's loss to the Thunder, or the fact that they were playing on the second night of a back - to - back, shake them off their game. Instead, they came out guns - blazing, with a 41 - point first quarter and although they slipped a little in the second, came out of halftime cooking with a 38 - point third quarter. Harden notched his third triple - double of the season, with 26 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds, in 32 minutes. Meanwhile, Patrick Beverley made his season - debut for Houston, after missing time due to knee surgery. Beverley was featured in Coach Mike D'Antoni's starting lineup and finished with 11 points, three assists, three blocks and two rebounds, in 25 minutes. The Rockets will have a day off before they host the Jazz on Saturday. The Trail Blazers (7 - 6) have now lost two games in a row by a combined total of 42 points. Defense has certainly been a problem for Portland as it came into this game averaging 111 points - against this season, the second - worst in the league. The Blazers were out - hustled in this one, giving up 17 offensive rebounds and 25 fast - break points. This was only the third time this season that Damian Lillard did not lead his team in scoring. Lillard finished with 18 points, while C.J. McCollum was the high - point man with 26. The Trail Blazers had four players score in double figures and nine players score five or more points, but once again their defense let them down. The Blazers will face the second night of a back - to - back as they visit New Orleans to play the Pelicans on Friday.
["TeamStat(G,'Rockets') has 5 Losses ,has 126 Total points ,has 41 Points in 1st quarter ,has 38 Points in 3rd quarter ,has 7 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Trail Blazers') has 6 Losses ,has 109 Total points ,has 7 Points in 1st quarter ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'CJ McCollum') has 26 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Damian Lillard') has 18 Assists ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Patrick Beverley') has 3 Assists ,has 3 Blocks ,has 25 Minutes played ,has 11 Points ,has 2 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'James Harden') has 14 Assists ,has 32 Blocks ,has 26 Minutes played ,has 12 Points ."]