HOUSTON – Chris Paul’s game-winning layup with less than a second to play thwarted Portland’s shocking comeback bid, as Houston scored a 96-94 win in front of 18,055 at Toyota Center. Houston led by as many as 24 points before Portland nearly stole a win against the team with the NBA’s best record.
After Head Coach Terry Stotts emptied his bench with under four minutes to play, the Trail Blazers reeled off an improbable 17-0 run, capped by Pat Connaughton’s driving layup, to tie the game at 94 with six seconds remaining. After Paul’s bucket, CJ McCollum’s would-be game-winning 3-pointer rimmed off as the buzzer sounded.
“I was really pleased with the way we finished the game,” said Coach Stotts. “Those guys at the end played hard, were aggressive defensively. It was really impressive. It was too bad we couldn’t go to overtime or win it, but I was really proud of the way they played.”
Most of the late spurt came with Wade Baldwin IV, Pat Connaughton, Jake Layman, Georgios Papagiannis and Caleb Swanigan on the floor. All five players scored during the run, all the while preventing the highest scoring team in the NBA from scoring a single point.
“All the credit to them. They believed. They played hard,” said Nurkic on the group that got Portland back into the game. “They made everything hard for them, which was our goal from the beginning. They found a rhythm for themselves.”
The Trail Blazers drop to 48-31 this season, leading the Utah Jazz (46-33) by two games for the third spot in the Western Conference. Portland has just three games remaining on its schedule, all against teams in the Western Conference playoff picture, including the Jazz to close out the season at Moda Center.
CJ McCollum netted a team-high 16 points, Jusuf Nurkic notched 14 points and 11 rebounds and Baldwin IV added 14 points to lead the Trail Blazers, who were without Damian Lillard, Maurice Harkless and Ed Davis. Lillard, who injured his left ankle in the fourth quarter on Tuesday in Dallas, missed his ninth game of the season.
“Wade Baldwin had a terrific night,” Coach Stotts added. “He’s in great condition to do what he did on both ends. To pick of Harden full court, to pick up Chris Paul full court, harass them as much as he did and still push the tempo. To do that for 31 minutes, that was an impressive game.”
After the Rockets converted 13 of 23 3-point attempts in the first half, the Trail Blazers held the home team without a single 3-pointer in the second half (0-14). Portland also outrebounded Houston in the second half, 28-7, and 7-1 on the offensive glass.
The NBA-leading Rockets (64-15) have now won 20 consecutive home games and are 20-2 overall since the All-Star break, best in the league. Portland’s 16-5 mark in the second half of the season is third best in the NBA, behind only Houston and Philadelphia (18-5).
TOP SCORERS
• Portland’s bench doubled up the Houston bench in scoring, 42-21.
• Caleb Swanigan set a new career high with 10 points, surpassing the eight he scored on opening night, Oct. 18 at Phoenix.
• Evan Turner netted 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting (2-2 3-PT).
• Chris Paul led all scorers with 27 points (11-19 FG), while James Harden added 24 points (7-13 FG) for the Rockets.
NOTABLE
• Nurkic notched his 25th double-double of the year, leading the Trail Blazers.
• Houston (19-2) and Portland (16-4) entered the game with the two best records in the NBA since the All-Star break.
• Damian Lillard (left ankle) joined Maurice Harkless (left knee) and Ed Davis (right ankle) on the bench with injuries.
• The Rockets played without Ryan Anderson (left ankle) and Eric Gordon (left ankle).
QUOTABLE
“Everybody’s hungry. Everybody wants to play in this league. Everybody wants to show what they can do, and I think everybody did a fantastic job in showing that tonight.” – Wade Baldwin IV
LISTEN UP
NEXT UP
Portland completes the Texas Triangle with a trip to San Antonio on Saturday. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on NBC Sports Northwest Rip City Radio 620 AM.
The Trail Blazers and Spurs are tied, 1-1, in the season series with Saturday providing the rubber match. The winner secures a series win and the playoff tiebreaker.