Wallace scored 23 points as the Trail Blazers handed the Rockets their 14th straight loss, 101-92.
Portland is 10-0 when Wallace scores at least 23 points and 2-11 when he does not.
"He had a great game," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He missed some easy shots, but some of those he missed in the first half he made in the second half. The whole team was out there playing with a purpose. Wallace was a difference in the second half."
 Ruben Patterson finds nothing to impede his progress to the hoop. Bill Baptist NBAE/Getty Images |
"The first quarter, I didn't take too many shots," Patterson said. "My defense led to my offense. We played defense all night and that led to a lot of transition baskets."
"We didn't run a play for Ruben and he still got 23 points and 11 rebounds," Cheeks said. "His energy is always there. He's been good the last couple of games and has led us to those wins."
The Rockets led, 67-66, with a little more than four minutes left in the third quarter, but the Blazers went on a 16-6 run into the first minute of the fourth quarter to take a double-digit lead. Wallace, Patterson and Anderson each had four points during the run.
Houston got within 91-88 on rookie Oscar Torres' 3-pointer with 4:32 left but was held scoreless until the final minute.
"They are a dangerous team," Anderson said. "If you're not ready to play, Houston will beat you. You have to work extra hard against a team with a losing streak."
Moochie Norris had 22 points and seven assists for Houston, which is three losses shy of tying its all-time worst skid set during the 1967-68 campaign, when the team was based in San Diego.
"We're going through a catastrophe," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "How we handle this is a big test. I don't like it, but I'm not going to walk around and feel less about myself because we're in a terrible situation."
Cuttino Mobley scored a season-high 21 points but shot an abysmal 9-of-28 for Houston. Torres tallied 11 on 5-of-17 shooting.
"I was 9-of-28 from the field and I missed a lot of easy shots," Mobley said. "With (Steve) Francis out, I want to help the guys out, but I feel I'm letting them down. Nobody's perfect but I feel I should be right now. It's a team sport but you've got to perform."
In the tightly contested first half, neither team led by more than eight points. Houston led 16-8 early and 27-21 after 12 minutes. The Rockets never led by more than six in the second quarter and took a 48-45 advantage into halftime.
Norris led all scorers at the break with 13 points. Patterson and Anderson each had 11 to pace Portland.
"This definitely was a winnable game," Norris said. "It was close at the end and it came down to them making plays."
"It's not even rough yet, because when I was with Toronto, we lost 19 in a row (actually 17, during the 1997-98 season)," said Portland guard Damon Stoudamire, who scored 14 points in the win. "We didn't win for two months. Houston has had so many injuries and it's hard to keep your head up and your confidence. I'm just glad they didn't win against us."