The first meeting against the Houston Rockets was going to more emotional than any other match-up to date. After facing them in an energetic and intense six-game series in the playoffs last season, it is not too hard to think that the first match-up will have some extra motivations behind it, especially for Houston, regardless of what they say in interviews or comments.
The Blazers were coming into this game short-handed in a big way. Robin Lopez is still out, obviously, but LaMarcus Aldridge, who was just named Western Conference Player of the Week, had to sit out due to upper respiratory illness. This is the second time this season that LA has had to sit out because of it. Someone tell the Blazers to start washing their hands!
The Blazers fell to the Houston Rockets thanks to a big night by James Harden 110-95. The Blazers fall to 22-7 on the season, 10-5 on the road, while the Rockets improve to 20-7 and 10-5 at home.
What does Houston do best? Get out in transition, get fast break points, shoot three-pointers and get to the foul line. Portland being short-handed and having to start Meyers Leonard and Joel Freeland on the frontline made it easier for Houston to do what they do best. Because size was an issue for Portland, Dwight Howard and company were able to rebound with ease. Very few possessions did Portland get second chances at a bucket. Chris Kaman, Freeland or Leonard would get boxed out or overwhelmed purely because of the size. Furthermore, because Portland could not play all three of them at once, there was the issue of just not having enough people being able to rebound. LA not only does wonders on the offensive end, but defensively he has gotten a lot better at affecting drives, getting rebounds and contesting shots. His ability to clog the paint and get steals would have been effective against Harden who was driving down the lane at will.
Before I get too far, let me just say that Houston is indeed a good team. In fact, they have gotten better on the defensive end thanks to newcomers Trevor Ariza and Corey Brewer. Furthermore, Harden has worked on his defense so it is not putrid. They rank third overall in points allowed at 96.3. Portland ranks second. So, two teams who last season had no defense at all and were high-powered offenses, have now switched gears and are more well-rounded. They have both sacrificed constant offensive explosion with better defensive discipline and talent. Now, Portland still has that extra gear that they have yet to tap into yet. There is still that feeling that the Blazers have yet to really mesh well offensively. The Rockets are going to be a good offensive team, but with the departure of Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin there was a decrease in offensive talent. However, I think that is a good thing for the Rockets. While it was great that they could score 110+ points a night, they were also constantly fighting their defense. They may not have made a huge leap in terms of total team talent, but they are better balanced.
Two aspects of this game were the main causes of Portland’s loss. Portland did start off well; they did jump to a 12-4 lead before Rockets head coach Kevin McHale took his first timeout. After that timeout, the Rockets changed philosophies and got the ball to Howard a lot more and started abusing Portland’s lack of size and the lack of an all-star on the block.
Turnovers were the catalyst to it all unraveling for Portland. Portland turned the ball over a whopping 22 times leading to 24 Houston points off of turnovers. Twenty-four! Portland lost by 15. Take ten turnovers away and this would have been a ball game. Secondly, this also led to points in transition for Houston. They had 17 fast break points. Portland did outscore them by two with 19 fast break points, it did not matter. With 41 points linked to turnovers, it is hard to carry that baggage the rest of the game and fight back. Damian Lillard, surprisingly, had six turnovers. A lot of them happened when Portland attempted to push the tempo. Houston would crowd the court and any passing lane. There were a couple of times where Lillard just threw to a Rocket player trailing him. Turnovers can be the worst issue for a team. Not only does it take away a possession, but it takes away rhythm, tempo and confidence and gives the other team a chance at extra points and easy opportunities.
Portland, not shocking, was out-rebounded 42-35. Honestly, not as bad as I thought considering Howard is on the other team. They also have bigger players like Donatas Motiejunas who clog the paint up as well. Leonard, Freeland and Kaman played their tails off. Houston only secured two extra offensive rebounds, but that was mainly because they were hitting so many shots.
Houston finished shooting 47% from the field and 36% from the three. Brewer, in his first game as a Rocket, went 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. Brewer is a career 19% three-point shooter. Not something that is going to happen every night, but it bit Portland tonight. Portland shot 45% from the field and 37% from three. The statistics from a percentage standpoint are very close and almost identical, but again turnovers make a huge impact. Houston attempted 11 more shots from the field and made seven more shots than Portland did. This was actually a fairly even game underneath the disgusting turnovers. Portland made ten three-pointers, Houston made 13.
Probably the biggest issue, however, was Harden. He finished with 44 points on 14-for-26 shooting, 4-for-9 from three with seven assists, three rebounds and five steals. Harden was magnificent in this game. He was locked in and got loose in transitions multiple times. He completed a couple of three-point plays as well as calmly dribbling up the court and swishing a three. When Harden has it going offensively, it is hard to stop him. Again, this is where Aldridge would have helped defensively. Harden was able to turn the corner on Lillard or Wesley Matthews and have a free shot at the rim or Portland was forced to foul.
Houston’s biggest lead was 25 and they outscored Portland by 16 in the second quarter. From then on, it was all Houston. Portland could only sit and watch.
Portland’s highest scorer was Lillard who finished with 18 points on 6-for-16 shooting, 0-for-5 from three with three assists, one steal and three rebounds. A solid game from Lillard, however, he was guarded well and took a lot of contact at the rim. The only black mark would be the six turnovers. That stings.
Matthews finished with 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting, 3-for-5 from three with two assists and three rebounds. He quietly had a good night shooting-wise, but again it was matter of getting him open. Houston’s better defense and not having to worry about a certain someone in the paint allowed the backcourt to get more focus throughout.
A couple of bright spots, however, were present. One was C.J. McCollum. He played 27 minutes and had 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, 2-for-3 from three with three steals, three assists and three rebounds. There is a pattern developing between a couple of Portland players. Lillard, Aldridge and McCollum especially are getting better at stealing the ball. All players will register at least one a game. It will be interesting to see how effective that is once all three can play together and how offenses react. Regardless, McCollum looked confident in his shot and in his playing. McCollum just needs to stay healthy for a long stretch of time and he is going to develop into a good weapon for Portland.
Another was Leonard, who was starting in place of Aldridge. He finished with 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting, 3-for-7 from three with four rebounds and one block. He had eight points in the first quarter including two made three-pointers. The makings of that stretch four are definitely there and he forced Howard out of the paint. If Leonard can get more consistent hitting that three-point shot, he will become much more valuable and probably becoming a rotation regular. However, I would still like to see him rebound and play defense slightly better. He is still getting bullied down low, however, it is Howard so everyone does.
While it was not the outcome Blazer fans probably wanted, it isn’t surprising. Portland does not have a lot of time to worry about the “revenge” aspect of this game as an arguably harder contest looms tomorrow. The Blazers take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma City at 5:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday night. Portland might get lucky because superstar Kevin Durant is questionable to play tomorrow due to his ankle. Regardless, Russell Westbrook has been playing at an MVP level, averaging 29.0 points, 7.6 assists, 6.1 rebounds and 2.0 steals in his last ten games, and Portland could still be short-handed themselves if LA cannot go. If Portland wins this game, I think fans will forget about the Houston loss quickly. Stay tuned!