Blazers @ HOU Game Preview (12/22/14):
Them: 19-7, 2nd in NBA Southwest Division
Our Last game: W @ NOP, 114-88
ESPN said:
One night after it took Portland three overtimes to get a win, the Trail Blazers needed only three quarters to get past the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.
Portland led by 32 points heading into the fourth quarter and coasted to a 114-88 win over the Pelicans, picking up their 10th victory in the last 12 games.
"We knew that they were probably going to talk a lot about us having a triple overtime game last night," Portland point guard Damian Lillard said. "We knew we had to be locked in and that we had to make sure we created our own energy regardless of what we went through (Friday) night."
Forward LaMarcus Aldridge had 27 points and 12 rebounds, giving him a two-night total of 59 points and 28 rebounds. Lillard added 17 points and seven assists.
And both played only three quarters.
"That definitely helped," Lillard said. "Takes two of those overtimes away."
The Trail Blazers (22-6) arrived in New Orleans at 2 a.m. after their 129-119 triple overtime win against San Antonio. The Pelicans (13-13) hadn't played since winning by nine at Houston on Thursday.
Yet, Portland had the energy throughout and found a way to shut down New Orleans' offense, including forward Anthony Davis. The Pelicans, looking like the more tired team, shot just 35 percent and turned the ball over 17 times.
Their Last game: L v. ATL, 104-97
ESPN said:
Dwight Howard had 19 points and 11 rebounds and James Harden added 18 points with a season-high 14 assists for the Rockets who lost their second straight game.
"The last couple of games the ball hasn't been falling the way we wanted it to and the defense hasn't been where we need it to be, but we can't lose focus," Howard said.
Howard has averaged 21.5 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in four games since returning from a knee injury. The Rockets, however, have failed to turn those performances into victories, as their 104-97 loss to Atlanta on Saturday marked the second time this season they have dropped consecutive games. Houston (19-7) fell at home to New Orleans on Thursday.
Changes to their roster:
BasketballInsiders.com said:
It wasn’t the greatest summer for the Houston Rockets, as they lost Chandler Parsons, their starting small forward, in restricted free agency and then traded away two solid rotation guys in Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik to create cap space for an elite player (Carmelo Anthony? Chris Bosh?) that ultimately never came. Still, bringing back Trevor Ariza was a solid move, and James Harden and Dwight Howard are both still there and plenty motivated to make progress on their first year together in Houston. Some would say they’ve still got some growing up to do, but the Rockets should be one of the most exciting, high-scoring teams in the league again this year, whether Howard and Harden mature or not.
Injury Updates: McCollum, Aldridge (out)
Matchups:
PG: Damian Lillard v. Patrick Beverley (12.7ppg, 5.5rpg, 3.1apg)
SG: Wesley Matthews v. James Harden (26.3ppg, 7.0apg, 6.3rpg)
SF: Nic Batum v. Trevor Ariza (14.0ppg, 6.2rpg)
PF: Meyers Leonard v. Donatas Motiejunas (10.6ppg, 6.1rpg)
C: Joel Freeland v. Dwight Howard (19.6ppg, 11.9rpg, 2.4blk/g)
Give-a-Rip (City) Factor—a.k.a. why you should watch: HOU's "revenge" game from last year. To see if the Blazers can keep their 5-game groove going. To see how much they'll miss LMA and RoLo down low. To see if the bench can step up. To see if the Beard will get a technical flopping foul (who am I kidding?!).
Current Power Rankings:
ESPN (5) Picking our Trimester MVPs this week and James Harden's case is as good as anyone's. He's leading the league in scoring, No. 9 in PER (25.04), tied for No. 3 in minutes per game, generating the occasional compliment about his defense and has Houston at 8-4 in games Dwight Howard has missed.
Covers.com (8) Like Portland, the key here has been improved defense. Surprisingly, they've done it without much Dwight Howard. They won 8 of 11 without the big guy before his return against Denver Saturday.
NBA.com (8) Pace: 97.2 (8), OffRtg: 101.7 (21), DefRtg: 97.7 (2), NetRtg: +4.0 (11)
Even with Dwight Howard back and James Harden continuing to hit clutch threes, the Rockets are struggling to score consistently as turnovers and 3-point shooting are the biggest problems. New addition Corey Brewer, who has a higher turnover rate than any of Houston's guards and has shot 20 percent from beyond the arc, obviously isn't the final answer.
Link to Grandpa Blaze's Prediction Game
Link to MediocreMan's Over/Under game
Links to other team’s site(s):
http://www.nba.com/rockets/ Rockets’ NBA page
Final ThoughtsMeyers Leonard and Joel Freeland as our two bigs aren't exactly what was on the drawing table this season, but maybe there's some magic brewing here.
Blazers 114
HOU 107
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BLAZERS' GAME NOTES 
The gif doesn't give it much justice!
