Houston Rockets Get Nicked By The Blazers 105-100

After three well-deserved days off, your Houston Rockets were back in action!

It honestly felt like an eternity not being able to see them play for so long!

But I do have to understand that they did need some rest after undertaking such a hellish scheduling challenge that they undertook last week.

There’s just not really much to watch now with baseball not quite yet in full swing and the NFL draft being a little over a month away.

But five games in seven days…

Yikes — but they still were able to get through the week with a 3-2 record.

The Rockets have two games this week — a back-to-back — the Portland Trail Blazers last night and the Utah Jazz tonight.

An effort was made last night but it was obviously clear that the Rockets were over-matched in the paint against the Blazers’ bigs.

The Rockets were out-rebounded by a margin of 60-40 last night!

Eeeek.

This was certainly a game that we needed Dwight Howard more than ever.

He should be back in the mix soon so I’m definitely looking forward to his arrival.

Anyway, the 1st quarter of last night’s game was quite competitive as each team was going after each basket tit-for-tat.

LaMarcus Aldridge, the guy that continues to be a match up problem for us, got going early but James Harden was there to keep the Rockets in the running.

Aldridge already had 10 points, three rebounds while the Beard had 10 points to his credit as the Rockets led the Blazers 29-26 at the end of the 1st.

The Rockets continued to try to stay ahead of the Blazers taking a lead by as much as seven points after a Josh Smith three-pointer. Rockets 38, Blazers 31

But the Blazers went on a 10-0 run to take a 41-38 lead after Damian Lillard hit two free throws off a Patrick Beverley foul.

Things remained tight for the rest of the quarter with the Rockets trailing the Blazers 54-53 at the half.

At the start of the 3rd, the Rockets came out shooting quite well, being able to take another seven-point lead with — 61-54 — after Terrence Jones completed a beautiful And-1 play after being fouled by Meyers Leonard with 7:48 left.

I think those plays are becoming his signature! He can draw fouls just as good as the Beard can!

But Nicolas Batum and Leonard worked together to hit three, three-balls to tie the game back up at 65-all with 5:08 left in the 3rd.

The Blazers hot shooting continued and the Rockets were down at the end of the 3rd, 80-74.

In the 4th quarter, the Blazers dominated the Rockets for most of the way with them leading by as much as 11 points with 2:42 left after a Arron Afflalo three-pointer. Blazers 99, Rockets 88

But guess what happened?

Mar 11, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Houston Rockets forward

Terrence Jones

(6) shoots over Portland Trail Blazers center

Meyers Leonard

(11) during the third quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

Corey Brewer took it upon himself to get our Rockets back in the game.

He drew fouls, he drove for two, he hit three-pointers willing the Rockets to pull with one point — 101-100 with 15 seconds left — after a statement-making dunk scoring his 23rd point of the game including 17 in the 4th quarter!

That play was off a steal from Lillard on an out-of-bounds play that some Blazers fans consider more of foul than an actual steal.

Oh well — the Rockets benefited off that heads-up play and still had a shot to win the game!

The Rockets quickly fouled Afflalo with seven seconds left sending him to the line.

More from House of Houston

He hit both free throws comfortably — as most Blazers players do — and the Rockets had the ball back advancing to half-court after a timeout. Blazers 103, Rockets 100

Seven seconds left…

Kevin McHale drew up a play specifically for Brew to tie the game that involved a pick up top to pry him away from the defense to get a good look.

It was executed quite well as the Beard was the one that set the pick but Brew’s shot hit right off the front of the iron with Steve Blake snagging the rebound.

Brew then fouled Lillard as he sunk both penalty free throws with three seconds left.

The Rockets did call one more timeout to try to hit another three but Beverley missed quite well and Rockets ended up on the short end of the stick. Final Score: Blazers 105, Rockets 100

This was another game against the Blazers where they were dominated on the glass, Harden was taken out of the equation and the three-pointer was taken away from them finishing up shooting 30.3 percent from behind-the-arc.

When teams take those things away, the Rockets usually lose.