Blazers Recap: The Streak Ends

It was a game for the ages- the hottest team in the NBA, our Portland Trailblazers, up against the top seeded Houston Rockets. The atmosphere in the Moda Center was thunderous and electric, with fans packed to the rafters, crowding the standing-room-only spots usually only occupied during playoff games. The fans got just what they came for: high-quality basketball with drama down to the final seconds. Unfortunately, the Blazers came up short, snapping their league-leading 13 game winning streak, and falling to a well oiled Rockets team, 111-115.

Portland’s Damian Lillard has been getting a lot of attention lately, with many saying he deserves serious consideration as an MVP candidate. But the clear front runner for that award is the Bearded One, Houston’s James Harden. He showed us why on this night. Harden was incredible, scoring 42 points and proving nearly unstoppable. The Rockets focused their defensive efforts on Lillard and his backcourt mate CJ McCollum, leaving the other Blazers fairly open. The result was a relatively quiet night for Lillard and Mccollum, while their team mates Aminu, Harkless, Turner and Nurkic went off for 70 points combined. This was the response Portland needed, but it wasn’t quite enough in the end.

The game stayed tight all night, with 17 lead changes and neither team ever leading by more than 9. Al Farouq Aminu had the hot hand in the first quarter, hitting 4 three pointers in that period alone. This was a good sign for Portland, as Houston’s clear strategy was to dare anyone but Lillard or McCollum to shoot. Houston was cold from distance in the first quarter, but they started to click later on. The game was tied at 55 at the half.

Here’s a look at some of the fans wandering the hallways during the break:

There were a fair number of Rocket fans in attendance, but they weren’t too loud or obnoxious, unlike some other fan bases that come to town. This guy was from Canada and said he roots for the Rockets “because they’re so good.”

These guys are on a wheelchair basketball team called the Wheel Blazers that played during halftime:

The second half featured more heroics from Harden and the annoyingly good Chris Paul. When Chris Paul signed with the Rockets at the beginning of this season many wondered whether those two would play well together, but now the question has clearly been answered. They do. Paul is able to fill in whenever Harden gets trapped. And when Chris Paul isn’t doing the damage, Eric Gordon or center Clint Cappella dish it out as well. Most other teams would have wilted against the brutal Houston attack, but Portland showed it has weapons of its own. Jusuf Nurkic proved to be trouble for Houston all night, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. He struggled with silly fouls though and had to sit a few times to keep from fouling out. This was too bad because when he wasn’t fouling Nurkic was an effective rim protector.

The Blazer’s carried a one point lead into the final quarter, and we all knew it was going to be a brawl. Both teams went on short runs, but it was Houston who pulled ahead behind a pair of devastating three point shots from Harden. For a moment it looked like they would run away with it, but Portland stormed back, closing the gap to two points with 28 seconds remaining. Houston missed a shot, but sadly, recovered the rebound, forcing Portland to foul. Chris Paul sunk two free throws with 1.3 seconds remaining and put the game out of reach.

So, yeah, Houston won and ended an awesome winning streak by the Blazers, but this was still a statement game for Portland. Houston now knows they face a serious challenge from their pals in the northwest. Should these teams meet up in the playoffs, an entirely likely scenario, we should all be in for some excellent drama.

Portland remains in 3rd place in the west, with 11 games remaining in the schedule. They face a very good Boston Celtics team on Friday at the Moda Center and then on Sunday they travel to Oklahoma to play the Thunder who are nipping at their heels, two games behind the Blazers in fourth place. Spring is here, Blazer fans, and the best is yet to come!