Rockets guard Kevin Porter Jr. broke out of his recent slump with a team-high 18 points on 50% shooting, but he didn’t have enough help as Houston (1-11) lost its 10th straight game with Friday’s 104-92 loss (box score) to Portland. Perennial All-Star Damian Lillard led the Trail Blazers (6-7) with 20 points and 7 assists, including four 3-pointers.
The host Rockets shot just 7-of-32 on 3-pointers (21.9%) and 17-of-27 on free throws (63.0%) at Toyota Center, and that wasn’t good enough versus a veteran-laden opponent led by the likes of Lillard, CJ McCollum (17 points, 8 rebounds), and Jusuf Nurkic (12 points, 9 rebounds).
Christian Wood scored 8 points on just 4-of-15 shooting (26.7%), including 0-of-6 on 3-pointers. Houston had a lively home crowd in a game marking the debut of their new City uniforms and a matching blue court, but the team didn’t shoot well enough to reward them with a win.
See below for highlights and player analysis, with grades limited to players who went at least 15 minutes. Houston wraps up its three-game homestand on Sunday versus Phoenix, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. Central.
