After Being Outclassed by Rockets, Trail Blazers Preach Togetherness
Portland suffered its first double-digit loss of the season to a contending Rockets team.
📍HOUSTON — Sometimes, you lose a game early.
The Trail Blazers' fast start in Houston, where they led by as much as nine was erased in two minutes of game time as the Rockets went on a 13-2 run near the end of the first quarter. Portland stopped the bleeding in the second quarter, but got run off the floor in the second half by a Rockets team that looked every bit the contender they were billed as this summer.
All season, it's been the Blazers pressing teams and forcing turnovers. On Friday, it was Portland that coughed the ball up 20 times and only forced six. A team that's defined its success by second-chance points got beat on the offensive glass.
The Blazers have hung their hats on competing every night. Even in losses, they've done that. Friday's 140-116 blowout loss to the Rockets was their first double-digit loss of the season, and they made up for lost time. The 24-point final margin in the Blazers' second Emirates NBA Cup™️ group stage game is enough to all but put them out of contention for the knockout rounds of the in-season tournament next month.
