En route to a fourth-straight victory, the Houston Rockets defeated the scorching hot Portland Trailblzers to the tune of 89-79 at the Rose Garden on Friday night.
The Blazers entered the contest having won 12 consecutive home games, thanks to the heady play of such stars as guard Brandon Roy and former Texas Longhorn LaMarcus Aldridge.
However, the game remained very much undecided until Houston coach Rick Adelman elected to infuse the starting lineup with an injection of youth late in the fourth quarter. Rookies Luis Scola, Aaron Brooks, and Carl Landy led a late surge, scoring the Rockets' final 12 points and played the necessary defense to put the clamps on a Portland offense that has averaged 96.6 points per outing.
On the heels of an All-Star selection, Houston's Yao Ming proved to be ineffective, scoring just 11 points on 2-8 shooting. Meanwhile, veteran Tracy McGrady fared no better notching 15 points on a 5-for-14 night one week after returning to the starting lineup from injury. The lackluster play of the Rockets' stars led to an early 12 point deficit which proved to be difficult to overcome until Scola, Brooks and Landy came to the rescue.
Portland's Roy recorded 23 points, while Aldridge put up 14 points and 6 boards in a losing effort - however the superstars, and the team as a whole, proved to be ineffective in the game's closing minutes thanks to a heady defensive effort by Houston's trio of rookies.
Up next for the hometown heroes is a home game against the Utah Jazz at 6:00pm CST - scheduled for broadcast on KTXH local TV.
Photo: flickr user jeffbalke
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