The Blazers lost to the Houston Rockets tonight 116-101.This was just a sloppy game from start to finish. It seemed like everywhere you looked there was a turnover or offensive foul or one-pass and drive offensive possessions that got nowhere. You have to tip your cap to the Houston Rockets. They have a great squad and were able to dissect the Blazers’ defense and hit big shot after big shot when they needed it.
The most alarming statistic tonight and one that really had an effect on the Blazers chances as a whole were the free throws. Normally a pretty good free-throw shooting team, the Blazers shot just 66% from the FT line. Going 19-for-29 to Houston’s 28-for-34 at the line, you could tell that it was going to be a factor. You cannot shoot that poorly from the line against a team who has the most FT attempts in the league right now. In the first half, it was a very streaky game. The Blazers were even up by 9 at one point early in the game. The Rockets were able to answer and build a lead, but whenever the Rockets threatened to open it up, the Blazers would come right back and vice versa. It seemed like whichever team stopped hitting shots was going to be left in the dust and, unfortunately, the Blazers stopped hitting shots. The funny thing is, the Rockets played as sloppy a game as I have seen them play and gave the Blazers ample opportunity to get right back into the game. Alas, it was not meant to be.
The Blazers were going to lose again this season there is no doubt. However it was frustrating to see a very winnable game slip away because of missed opportunities. I also would like to see the return of home dominance. Going back to last season, the Moda Center (or Rose Garden) was not exactly a guaranteed win for the Blazers. I would like to get back to that because that was a heck of a weapon to use. I fully expect them to go back into the lab and work some of these kinks out, especially the free-throw shooting.
Robin Lopez was in foul trouble all night and, with Joel Freeland out because of injury, that is exactly what we didn’t want to happen. Lopez only played 18 minutes and ended with 6 rebounds (4 offensive), 3 blocks, and 0 points. The minutes that Lopez was in there, especially in the first quarter, he had an impact and he was playing hard and making Howard work. Unfortunately, he quickly ran into foul trouble and had to be pulled several times.
Damian Lillard had 22 points on 7-for-17 shooting, 4-for-9 from three, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds. I like the rebounds from Lillard. If you watch him grab rebounds in the paint, the guy has hops., especially with Dwight Howard clogging the paint for 38 minutes. It was impressive to see Lillard get in there for some rebounds. Other than that, Lillard was getting swarmed hard and it seemed like he was always running into road blocks wherever he went. He still played a great game for how Houston was playing him, but Houston’s defense definitely clamped down on him. Especially since LaMarcus Aldridge was not lights out from his usual spots.
Speaking of LaMarcus Aldridge, he finished the night with 21 points on 9-for-19 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block. Normally I would say that I would like to see more rebounds from him, but he was going up against Dwight Howard and Omer Asik. That is going to be difficult. I think this would have been a very different game if Aldridge was able to drill that mid-range jumper and fade away shot of his consistently. Houston would not have been able to clamp down on Lillard and it would have opened the paint so much for the rest of the squad. Aldridge is still solid as a rock and he made it work tonight. It was just one of those nights where the basket seemed to have a lid on it.
Wesley Matthews ended the night with 19 points on 6-for-12 shooting, 3-for-8 from three, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal. Wesley was, honestly, playing good defense, but kept getting called for fouls. He was only 3-for-8 from the line, which is really unusual from Matthews. You could tell he was mad at himself for missing free-throws and he even got a technical foul called on him for showing too much emotion at the referee. Overall, Matthews has played loads better since the preseason and I continue to expect straight up hustle and energy out of him for the rest of the season.
This was just a super sloppy game like I said above. The basket seemed to have a lid on it and easy lay-ups or finishes seemed to not want to fall in. Whenever it seemed like the Blazers wanted to make a run and get the Moda Center crowd into it, Harden would sink a three or some offensive foul would shift the momentum back in Houston’s favor. Houston likes to run and gun and I could tell that it was going to be an up-tempo game from the start. Unfortunately, the Blazers could not keep up and eventually fell to the Rockets in the end. Next up, the Sacramento Kings as the Blazers play at the Moda Center, yet again, on Friday at 7:00 PM PST. The Kings may be 1-3, but I hope the Blazers are ready to just run them out of the building. Losing to the Kings would be less than optimal. Stay tuned!