LaMarcus Aldridge was a late scratch for the Portland Trail Blazers due to an illness and they went out with a completely different front line then what anyone was expecting from the Blazers. Both Aldridge and Robin Lopez were out and they supplemented them with Joel Freeland and Meyers Leonard. It was the ability of the Houston Rockets to get into the paint that helped them win the night behind MVP candidate James Harden’s season-high 44 points in a Rockets 110-95 victory.
The Rockets snapped a 2 game losing streak and helped welcome Alexey Shved and Corey Brewer in their Rockets debuts. Harden was the star of the night though as he scored 44 points, dished out 7 assists and had 5 steals. He also shot 12-13 from the free throw line on the night. Dwight Howard had 16 points and 13 rebounds on the night to help out his fellow All-star on the night. Donatas Motiejunas had 10 points and 8 rebounds and Patrick Beverley had 11 points and 5 rebounds on the night. In Corey Brewer’s Rockets debut, he scored 12 points with 5 steals, 4 assists and 4 rebounds and the other Rocket that debuted tonight, Alexey Shved, had 3 points.
Jason Terry hit a 3-pointer to become the third player in NBA history to make 2,000 3-pointers. Ray Allen and Reggie Miller are the other players to reach those numbers. Terry had 5 points on the night.
Damian Lillard had 18 points on the night to lead the Trail Blazers. Wesley Matthews scored 14 and Meyers Leonard had 13 points with 4 rebounds. C.J. McCollum came off the bench to score 17 points for the Blazers.
Houston Rockets are 20-7. Portland Trail Blazers are 22-7.
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