Goran Dragic drops 22 as Houston Rockets edge past Portland Trail Blazers - NBA Recap
The Houston Rockets, led by the Western Conference player of the week Goran Dragic, defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 94-89 at the Rose Garden in Portland. Houston came into this game having won two in a row, including a big
game against the Los Angeles Lakers while Portland were looking for a win to improve their slim chances of making the playoffs.
Goran Dragic scored 22 points and Marcus Camby returned to his old building to score 9 points and grab 11 boards for the match. LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points and 6 rebounds for Portland.
There was no point scored till 9:03 in the first quarter when Courtney Lee scored a three pointer to put the first points on the board for Houston. Houston and Portland had missed a combined 11 field goal attempts before the three
point shot by Lee.
Houston only trailed 3-5 early in the quarter before taking the lead, which they kept till the end of the period. Portland, however, were right on Houston’s tail throughout, never trailing by more than 4 points till the final minute
of the quarter, when Marcus Camby scored a jump shot and followed it with a 3 pointer to extend the Rockets lead to 24-17 at the end of the 1st.
Rockets stretched their 1st quarter lead to 11 early in the 2nd quarter, and an effort from downtown by Chase Budinger with 4:51 to go in the half, gave Houston a 41-27 lead. The Rockets kept the lead to finish
the 1st half leading 49-40.
Portland came back fighting to open the third quarter, going on a 9-0 run to start off and tying the game at 49. Houston never trailed Portland after that, but barely kept their lead going into the final quarter. They led 71-65
at the end of the 3rd.
A dunk by Budinger extended the Rockets’ lead to 12 once again and later an alley oop dunk by Budinger off an assist by Dragic took it to 13. Houston played very good defence to limit the Trail Blazers charge whenever they gained
any sort of momentum.
A three point play by Jamal Crawford brought Portland to within 6 with 41 seconds left in the game. Luis Scola returned the favour with a layup to bring the Rockets lead back to 8. LaMarcus Aldridge then sank a three to bring Portland
back to within five, but time ran out and Houston went on to win 94-89.
Goran Dragic was 8 of 14 from the field, including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. Chase Budinger added 15 points to the Rockets tally. Kyle Lowry came off the bench to score 13 points, shooting 5 of 6 from the field in the 22 minutes
he played. Aldridge was the leading scorer for Portland with 20 points 46% shooting from the field. Jamal Crawford added 18 and Raymond Felton had 14 for Portland.
Houston shot 46.2% from the field 52.6% from the three point line as compared to 39.8% field goal shooting and 28.6% three point shooting from Portland.
The Rockets seem to be peaking at the right time and are on a good roll as the season nears completion. Dragic has been a tremendous find and with Marcus Camby and Kyle Lowry back in the team, they have a good chance of going farther
than the first round in the playoffs. With this loss, Portland are almost out of playoff contention, now four wins behind 8th placed Denver.
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