Horrific Shooting Night Leads To Rockets Loss To Trail Blazers

HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets could not steal a victory from the Portland Trail Blazers on a night Damian Lillard had a subpar shooting performance inside the Toyota Center.

Lillard finished the game with 25 points while connecting on seven out of his 21 shots from the field.

But the Trail Blazers lifted their struggling All-Star guard as a team, which was enough to send the Rockets home with a 107-95 loss.

Anfernee Simons led the Trail Blazers in place of Lillard with 32 points while shooting 52.3 percent from the field. Jalen Green led the Rockets in scoring with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting.

The Trail Blazers played a physical game to slow the Rockets down. But most of Houston's offensive struggles came due to missing several open shots and layup attempts.

The Rockets shot 40.0 percent from the field and an appalling 10.3 percent from behind the arc.

The Rockets hung tight with the Trail Blazers until the third quarter. Portland took control of the game by outscoring Houston 28-14 in the quarter. Houston entered the third period down 57-51 at the half.

Green and Porter shot a combined 0-of-12 from deep. Kevin Porter Jr. finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Alperen Sengun added 10 points and eight rebounds.

K.J. Martin gave the Rockets some life during the fourth quarter. He finished with 13 points and five rebounds in the loss.

In addition to Simons, Jusuf Nurkic and Josh Hart gave the Blazers an additional boost during Lillard's subpar shooting. Nurkic finished with 14, while Hart added 12.

Following the loss, the Rockets will continue their seven-game homestand Monday against the San Antonio Spurs. Tip-off is slated for 7 P.M. CT.

You can follow Coty M. Davis on Twitter at @CotyDavis_24

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