Whenever the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets get together, it’s like watching two cats go at it after a full display of arched backs and hissing. It’s not going to be pretty. Chaos will reign. But fur is going to fly and you do NOT want to get into the middle of it.
True to form, both teams shone in their puffed-tail, feline glory on Friday night. After a basically-even first half, the Rockets took a double-digit lead in the third period, but Portland shut them down in the fourth, holding
Houston to just 15 points in the frame on the way to a 111-105 Blazers victory.
Here are some observations from the game.
Keeping it Up
The Blazers went with the same basic defensive approaches that they took in their victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night.
The first pillar of the defense was sending the house into the paint to counter Houston’s prolific inside scoring. Whenever the ball touched the key, you’d find 2-3 Blazers converging to make sure the Rockets got anything but a clean inside look. Portland didn’t care about the secondary pass, three-pointers, or anything except keeping Houston away from the rim as much as possible, making them work extra hard if they wanted to push the issue.
Once again, one marvels at the play (and importance) of Donovan Clingan in this scheme. When you let him drop down and watch a limited space, his defensive prowess shines full force. Clingan had 15 rebounds and a bunch of defensive stops tonight.
All things considered, the Blazers were about as effective as they were Wednesday. Houston scored 44 in the paint, against a 54 point season average.
The second pillar of Portland’s defense was getting very close to Kevin Durant, even at the expense of playing off nearly everybody else. They were successful in the first part. Durant didn’t get many open looks, if nothing else because the Blazers worked overtime denying him the ball at every turn. But this was also the night Durant passed Wilt Chamberlain for seventh on the NBA All-Time Scoring List. A 7-footer with his kind of touch views defenders like a coffee shop patron views the lid on their cup. It’s something to get past and it ain’t gonna be very hard. KD had 30 points with 12 rebounds tonight. Yeah, the Blazers could have drafted him. Seems appropriate to remember that on this night when he soared past Wilt.
Houston aided and abetted the “play off everybody else” part of the scheme by hitting 10-44, 23% from the three-point arc, their second straight lousy evening. That, if nothing else, kept Portland in this one.
Returning the Favor
The Rockets were not going to let Portland control the game without pushback and payback, however. Houston returned the defensive favor by covering Deni Avdija like an Oregon Coast windbreaker. He was never going to be seen without them. They caught Deni early off the dribble, tried to force him away from his right hand, and closed tight on his three-point looks. He found outlets, but they were willing to live with that. After scoring 41 on Wednesday, Deni had 20 tonight on 5-15 shooting with 6 assists and 5 turnovers. He emerged in the fourth quarter, though, creating enough chaos on both ends to bring Portland back from 13 down.
An academic note: It was interesting to see the contrast in defensive execution dealing with the two stars. The Rockets tried to get to Deni early, stopping his speed dribble before momentum developed. That left interior passes open (with Clingan as a frequent recipient) but otherwise impeded Avdija’s progress. The Blazers went after Durant late, when he was ready to pull up for the shot. His comparatively slow offensive development allowed them that luxury, but again, it was hard to stop a 7-footer at the apex of his release. This scheme kept the interior secure but left perimeter shooters open. This game was a great clinic for those who want to watch how NBA teams deal with superior players in different ways. (Also unsaid: the Rockets considered Deni as important as the Blazers considered KD. Hey!)
Next Man Up
With their leader receiving special attention, it was up to Portland’s ancillary players to carry the offensive load. Three in particular stood out.
- Toumani Camara hit 5-11 threes on his way to a team-high 25 points.
- Caleb Love scored 18 on 6-13 shooting, hitting 4 of 8 threes himself.
- Sidy Cissoko bounced back from an ineffective outing to providing 13 points in 22 minutes without missing a single shot.
At the beginning of the year you would have panicked when imagining those three as offensive forces for the Blazers. What happened? Did a nuclear explosion hit the roster somehow? But give them credit. Camara has found his confidence while the other two have grown leaps and bounds since the early weeks of the season.
But once again the Rockets gave as good as they got. Their next man was Amen Thompson, who plastered 24 on the Blazers in an awesome show of athleticism. The best word to describe the words of some players are “sweet” or “smooth”. With Amen, it’s, “Yikes!!!”
Thompson wasn’t alone. Houston had their own trio going. Jabari Smith, Jr. got to work in isolation against Portland defenders, scoring 13. And remember how Durant got to pass to the perimeter off of the stilted, tilted defense? Reed Sheppard hit four from the arc in the second half on his way to 20 points. His shooting broke Portland’s back in the third period when the Rockets started streaking away for a while. His fourth-quarter defense may have helped the Blazers get back in it, though.
Yang Update
Yang Hansen has been getting some run in the last week, including these Houston games. We haven’t talked about him much, so how about an update?
The best way to describe Portland’s rookie right now is that he’s like a great pilot on Flight Simulator, now faced with flying a real, live plane. Everything he does makes sense technically, in theory. His decision making, his shot timing, his pick-setting, even some of his footwork…most of this stuff is by the book. But he’s dealing with a rough environment, buffeting winds and precipitation and unpredictable conditions. Even when he moves the controls technically in theory, he finds himself blown sideways.
Example: in the third period he found himself at the elbow, single-covered by a smaller Clint Capela. Yang correctly put his back to the basket, took a couple dribbles, and moved into a half-hook motion. But he didn’t feel Capela slip off his back, not bodying up his much-larger foe, but stepping back a few inches. When Yang turned into his hook motion, Capela timed it and blocked him, straight up, man-on-man. It was a good effort, the correct decision, and the shot itself was executed fine. The result just wasn’t there because the opponent was too clever, much quicker and more athletic than Yang has seen prior, and the rook doesn’t have enough experience to deal with real-life opposition yet even though academically he’s doing plenty of stuff right in his head.
(By contrast, Duop Reath turned in some good defensive minutes at the top of the fourth. Talk about a guy making the most of whatever he has…)
Board Games
The Trail Blazers are usually a decent rebounding team, sometimes inspired, but the Rockets are big, tough, and have Portland’s number. Houston had 56 rebounds, 22 offensive against 43 and 14 for the Blazers.
Foul Shots
Hitting 21 of 23 free throws sure helped Portland tonight. They’ve lost a few games via bad foul shooting. It’s nice to see them cement one via charity shots.
Injury
Robert Williams III left this game after 7 minutes of play with an unspecified knee injury. We’ll keep you updated.
Up Next
The Blazers will face the New York Knicks on Sunday with a 3:00 PM start time. They’re undefeated in 2026. Will the streak continue?
