HOUSTON -- The Trail Blazers never got a chance to get up a shot in the final moments of Tuesday night’s controversial loss in Oklahoma City. They would not be denied that opportunity 24 hours later in Houston.
Jerami Grant banked in a three-pointer as time expired to send Wednesday’s game to overtime, where Portland would outscore Houston 13-7 to come away with a 137-131 victory versus the Rockets in front of a sellout crowed of 18,055 at Toyota Center.
“What I would say is great players make coaches look good,” said Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups. “(Grant) hit a heck of a shot, it was a good pass by Malcolm. He had pretty much a mismatch, he had a smaller guy on him, he just rose up and knocked it down. He gets all that credit on that.”
The Trail Blazers are now 12-31 overall, 5-19 on the road and 1-0 versus the Rockets this season.
Portland trailed by as many as 13 in the first half before cutting Houston’s advantage to 63-57 by the halftime intermission. The Trail Blazers would then go on to put up 41 points in the third behind 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the quarter from Anfernee Simons to take a two-point lead into the fourth.
Jerami Grant Postgame Interview | Portland Trail Blazers 137, Houston Rockets 131
The game would remain close in the fourth, with the score being tied eight times and the lead changing hands seven times. However, when the Rockets turned back-to-back steals into back-to-back dunks to take a four-point lead with 53.7 seconds to play, it seemed as though the home team might have have done just enough to secure the victory.
But after both teams traded misses, Malcolm Brogdon converted a corner three with 3.1 seconds to play to cut Houston’s lead to one. Portland fouled on the next possession, with Aaron Holiday making both free throws to push the lead back to three with 1.6 seconds to play.
The Blazers called time to advance the ball to midcourt, where Brogdon would throw a looping pass over Rockets center Boban Marjanovic and guard Fred VanVleet to Grant, who collected the ball on the far side of the court, took one dribble and got off the shot that tied the game as time expired while fading away to his right.
“Went out to the court, we had a play drawn up,” said Grant. “(Houston) ended up going zone trying to stop us from getting to the corner, so I just had to go to the open spot. I seen the open spot, I held off (VanVleet) and let the shot go.
“I’m definitely not scared to take the shot. If they need me to take it, I will. If not, I’ll do whatever. Definitely not scared to take it, definitely not scared to make it.”
Portland Trail Blazers 137, Houston Rockets 131 | Game Highlights | Jan 24, 2024
Portland, with all the momentum after Grant’s shot to send the game to overtime, outscored Houston 9-2 in the first 2:45 to take their largest lead of the game, allowing the visitors to coast to the victory in extra time.
While Grant’s shot as time expired was the highlight, Wednesday’s game was a true team win, with players up and down the roster turning in some of their better performances of the season to secure the win.
Simons went 13-of-20 from the field and 4-of-9 from three to finish with 33 points, six rebounds and five assists in just under 41 minutes. Grant finished with 21 points, though he also posted a career-high in assists with nine to go with five rebounds and two blocks in nearly 43 minutes of work.
Brogdon added 10 points, six assists and two rebounds and Deandre Ayton had his best game since returning from injury, going 8-of-13 from the field for 18 points to go with 17 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal in 40 minutes.
Matisse Thybulle, whose defense in the third along with Simons’ scoring helped turn the tide of Wednesday’s game in the second half, went 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from three for 13 points, four rebounds and three steals in 22 minutes. Scoot Henderson added 11 points and three assists off the bench.
“We had to just hang in there,” said Billups. “Our energy wasn’t great in the first quarter but we hung in, we were okay. Went to the bench, thought the bench gave us a great lift. There was so many people that played well in this game. I thought (Ayton), manning the paint with the rebounds, six offensive rebounds was a really big deal, giving them one shot was important for us. Obviously Ant got going in the second half. I thought (Thybulle’s) minutes were a big deal, Matisse was incredible in his minutes. He shot it well but his defense, he’s all over the place just being ’Tisse. Scoot, the lift he gave us was a big deal. And then Jerami, shot was incredible that he hit but he had a career-high in assists today.
“So many great efforts, I’m just proud of our guys coming off that tough loss (Tuesday), coming in here, playing against a really gritty, really good defensive team that is going to climb into your shorts. We hung in there.”
Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with a near triple-double of 30 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in 39 minutes.
Next up, the Trail Blazers finish off a four-game road trip in San Antonio versus the Spurs Friday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.