Rockets lose to the Trail Blazers, 109-98

Posted: February 8, 2015 -- 10:55 pm.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- James Harden was sensational Sunday night; but, the too many lapses on defense hurt the Rockets in a 109-98 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Rockets missed their first five attempts of the game, but followed by making 7 of their next 9 to take a game high 19-11 lead. However, the Blazers finished the first quarter with 15-8 run to trim the Rockets' lead to 27-26 at the end of the first quarter.

The Rockets (35-16) went cold from the field in the second quarter and made just seven of 20 field goal attempts. However, the Blazers (35-17) shot 60.9% (14 for 23) from the floor in the second period. In the second quarter, the Blazers beat the Rockets inside and outside: Portland's big guys (LaMarcus Aldridge - 4; Robin Lopez - 6; Chris Kaman - 4; and Meyers Leonard - 3) scored 17 points while their guards (Damian Lillard - 7; CJ McCollum - 9; and Will Barton - 2) scored 18 points.

The Rockets trailed 61-48 at halftime.

"We can't put ourselves in that situation," James Harden said. "We played really well in that second half; and, we played much harder. Against a good team like Portland, we've got to do that for all four quarters."

"We made an inordinate amount of mistakes defensively - especially in that first half," said Kevin McHale after the game.

The Blazers scored the first four points of the third quarter to boost the lead to 17 points; but, James Harden scored 16 points in the quarter to erase the Rockets' deficit. When Harden wasn't scoring, he dished to Josh Smith; and, Smith sank his third three-point shot of the game and tied the game at 79 with 1:39 left in the quarter.

 Aldridge scored a lay-up on an offensive rebound to put Portland back on top. The Rockets trailed 81-80 after three quarters.

Smith sank his fourth three-pointer to give the Rockets an 83-81 lead; but, Meyers Leonard scored back-to-back baskets to give the Blazers an 85-83 lead with 10:27 left in the ball game.

Harden tied the game at 85 with a driving  lay-up; but, Leonard sank a three-point shot to continue his personal scoring streak. Then, after a missed lay-up by Corey Brewer, Leonard capped off his personal 9-0 run with a lay-up which put the Rockets behind 90-85 with 7:15 remaining.

"I was happy, I think I made my last four shots," Leonard said. "And, I think my energy and running hard and making shots when I was open and that was the main thing."

With 4:28 left in the game, the Rockets trailed 98-89; but, Donatas Motiejunas nailed a 10-foot jump shot followed by a three-point basket by Harden to cut their deficit to just four points (98-94) with 2:20 left on the game clock.

Aldridge scored an 8-foot jump hook for a six point lead. But, Motiejunas dunked (missed the free throw) to bring the Rockets within four points (100-96) again. On their next possession, Portland's Nicholas Batum drained a huge three-point basket for a 103-96 Blazers' lead with just 1:26 remaining.

After Harden missed a three-point shot, Aldridge, seemingly iced the game, when he sank two free throws, with 59.7 seconds remaining, for a 105-96 lead for the Blazers.

The Rockets made 9 of 18 field goal attempts in the first quarter; but, they made only 22 of their last 64 field goals after the opening twelve minutes. On the other side, Portland made 30 of their last 55 field goals after the first quarter.

The Rockets were outscored 46-30 in the paint. Harden made 19 of 23 free throws in the game which set a new mark for most free throws made and most free throws attempted in a game in the entire NBA this season.

Portland guard Wes Mathews said of Harden, "He’s shouldering a lot of the load now without Dwight (Howard) being out for a majority of the season. For that team to be as successful as they are now, everything sets on his shoulders and he's playing at a high level. He shot twenty three free throws. That's tough. He's got all the tricks and he creates contact well; but, I think we did a good job just making it tough. He shot twenty five balls; and, I don't know how many were uncontested but we'll live with that."

Kevin McHale summed up the game, "In the last four or five minutes, we couldn't muster up enough energy to get the thing coming back our way."

CLICK HERE for The HRR's Rockets' write-ups.