The Portland Trail Blazers had a shot to pull out an impressive game 3 victory over the Houston Rockets, but just could not pull through in overtime. The Rockets beat the Blazers 121-116 in yet another OT game (the second of the series).
Coming into the series, all predictions had either the Rockets or the Blazers winning in six or seven games. It was a bit of a surprise to see Houston steal game three, but not overly surprising. Houston finally started doing some of the things that they do well. They got out in transition for open three-pointers, James Harden finally had a decent game statistically, but not necessarily shooting-wise and Houston finally slowed down LaMarcus Aldridge.
Anyone who predicted a sweep by Portland needs to have their head examined. A lot of people seemed to forget that Houston has the same record as Portland and won 54 games in the regular season. They also seemed to forget that Houston beat them three times out of four in the regular season. Now, I will say that the Blazers, even though they lost, took the Rockets’ best punch and still almost came out with a win.
Portland was never going to sweep Houston no matter how much Portland fans wanted it to happen. The Rockets are just too skilled and have too many weapons that there was going to be, at least, one game where the Rockets were firing on all cylinders and actually playing their brand of basketball.
Now, the game itself, no matter which team you root for, was exciting. Houston jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead in the first quarter and set the tone early as they have done in the last two matchups. However, the difference this time around was that Aldridge was not keeping up. Houston started Omer Asik and Dwight Howard and they made it difficult on LA to get his offensive rhythm going. I expected something like this to happen, however, I was surprised to see how well it worked considering some of the struggles Houston had with that combination in the regular season. But, Kevin McHale knew that Terrence Jones just could not handle even a little bit of Aldridge and so was forced to start a bigger line-up.
Patrick Beverley, of all people, hit the first two shots of the game, which just happened to be three-pointers. Beverley shoots 36% from three-point land this season; however, he only averages about 4.6 attempts a game. This was a bit odd, but, honestly, Portland will take those shots. If James Harden and Chandler Parsons are not getting open looks from deep, then you win that situation more times than not.
Portland, staring at a nine-point hole early, got themselves back into it. What surprised me was that they didn’t need a timeout. Normally, teams take an urgent timeout when a team goes on a run like that, especially early. However, the Blazers, through ball movement, playing better defense and maybe just calming down after the initial surge of adrenaline and energy, tied the game up at 13 on a LA make.
I could go through the quarters play-by-play, but there are just so many plays that make your brain spin. Houston outscored Portland 35-24 in the first quarter, but Portland came roaring back in the second quarter by outscoring the Rockets 31-19. The defense for Portland locked down at the beginning of the second. After a Troy Daniels make at 11:21 in the quarter, Houston did not score again until the 6:56 mark. Because of this, Portland actually held a five-point lead in the middle of the second quarter, which is just amazing considering how Houston started off. Houston came roaring back with the play of Harden and Howard who started running small pick-and-rolls which were working effectively. Those two started effectively abusing the Blazers’ defense in that area and it caused a lot of alley-oops and lay-ups. Despite Houston rediscovering their offense in the second part of the second quarter, the Blazers had the privilege, it seemed, to be taking a one-point lead into halftime.
Damian Lillard led the charge as he went 4-for-6 in the quarter, including three three-pointers. Another impressive stat for the second quarter was that Houston was 1-for-7 from deep in the quarter and really focused on scoring in the paint and just feeding Howard.
In the second half, Houston outscored Portland in the third 27-23 thanks to the play of James Harden, who went 5-for-10 from the field in the quarter. However, Portland stuck with it. Whenever Houston looked to be running away from it, a timeout from Terry Stotts would occur and then a quick Portland run would happen to get them right back in it. It was amazing how predictable the streaky runs were. Portland’s makes in the third quarter had a great tempo to them. LaMarcus Aldridge finally got going as he went 3-for-5 from the field and had 10 points in the quarter. There were no cold spells in the quarter and because of that Portland only had a three-point deficit going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Portland outscored the Rockets 32-29. The culprit this time around was Mo Williams. Up until this quarter, Mo had not had the greatest game. He only had six points and made a few questionable plays. However, in the fourth quarter, he made Portland love him again. Williams went 3-for-4 from the field, including a three-pointer and had 11 points. Other Blazer players stepped up. Lillard was 2-for-3 and had nine points, Batum was 2-for-3, including a three-pointer and LA was 3-for-6. The offense showed up at the right time.
With 0:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, Batum hit his “usual” clutch three-pointer to send the game into overtime.
Portland had all the momentum going into overtime and when the Blazers took a 116-112 lead over the Rockets with 3:08 remaining, it seemed like Portland was, yet again, going to pull out a seemingly impossible victory over Houston. The Rockets had other plans. After a Lillard make with 3:08 remaining, the Blazers did not score for the rest of the quarter and they watched as the Rockets just slowly chipped away. The dagger came from Troy Daniels who was playing in just his sixth NBA game. After being on the Houston D-League team, the Vipers, Daniels stepped up in a big way and ultimately carried the Rockets to a victory.
It is amazing how many opportunities the Blazers had to actually win. Houston did not make a bucket every time down the court and three missed three-pointers and a couple of LA misses made this loss sting even more.
The main reason is I think the Blazers ran out of gas. Portland shot 56% from the field in the fourth quarter and played some hard defense throughout. In OT, the Blazers only shot 25% from the field. You could also tell it was fatigue in how the shots were missing. Some shots were short and the rebounding did not have the energy it used to earlier on. You had this sense like Portland needed to wrap this up quick not only because of the fatigue issue, but because of the foul trouble. Wesley Matthews, Portland’s best defender against Harden, had fouled out in OT and if Portland did push it to a second OT, they would have been at a disadvantage. LA and Damian both had four fouls of their and Howard and Harden and four and three respectively. It was going to be close either way, but Portland just could not seal the deal.
However, Portland played a hell of a ball game and had every opportunity to win. After thinking about this game, I realize that Portland has a really good shot at pulling this out. Normally, LA makes those jumpers in OT. Normally, Portland doesn’t go cold in OT.
As expected, the three-point line became a factor in game three. Portland went 10-for-27 and shot 37% from beyond the arc, while Houston went 12-for-31 and shot 39%. Portland shot 46% from the field, while Houston shot 43% from the field. The most surprising stat had to be the fast break points. Houston, a team known for getting out in transition, only had eight fast break points, while Portland had a whopping 23. Not many times do you see Portland have double-digit fast break points let alone 23.
Yet again, Portland had tons of blocks as they finished with 10. Portland was out-rebounded by Houston 53-47. As you can see, no team really had the upper hand. It all came down to energy and making plays as this series will be about going forward.
Damian Lillard continues to shine in his first postseason experience. He finished with 30 points on 9-for-16 shooting, 4-for-8 from three, six rebounds and six assists. Lillard had plenty of clutch lay-ups and three-pointers that kept the Blazers going. It is just amazing how this kid is calmly dropping 30+ points in two games, while almost grabbing a triple-double in game two.
LaMarcus Aldridge came down to earth as he finished with “just” 23 points on 8-for-22 shooting, 10 rebounds and three blocks. The defense made it difficult for LA to operate and he wasn’t hitting those ridiculous shots he was hitting in game two.
Batum, after being called the second-best small forward in the series, had 26 points on 9-for-20 shooting, 4-for-9 from three, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals. Batum was an animal and was really overshadowed by Portland’s two all-stars.
Wesley Matthews needs to get some offense going. He only had five points on 2-for-7 shooting, 1-for-5 from three. I understand he is defending Harden (and doing a good job at that); I would like to see Matthews at least provide 10 points. But, I have this feeling like Matthews is going to have a big game in this series.
Harden may have had 37 points, but he had to take a whopping 35 shots. I will take that any day of the week. He finished shooting 13-for-35 and just 3-for-11 from three. That is the hard way to get 37.
In the playoffs, you have to move on. The Blazers are still in great position for game four and I fully expect them to be ready to go. As heart-breaking as this game was, it was just one game. Game four tipoff is Sunday night at the Moda Center at 6:30 p.m PST. If Portland can win game four, then they will be in excellent position to win the series. As nice as the sweep would have been, there was a very low chance it was going to happen. Stay tuned!