As Wesley Matthews Watches, Blazers Take Season Series from Rockets

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Andrew R Tonry, GoLocalPDX Contributor

BLAZERS 105, ROCKETS 100

Successful surgery now time for the second half. #gameday #ripcity #arrowlife

A photo posted by Wesley (@wessywes2) on Mar 11, 2015 at 9:17pm PDT

Sprawled out on the couch, wearing his Blazers jersey and a cast on his leg, Wesley Matthews was watching.

Despite a furious rally and an atrocious non-call, Matthews saw the Blazers hang on and beat the Rockets, Wednesday in Portland, 105-100. The win gave the Blazers the season series and a tie-breaker, should the teams finish with identical records.

After Portland led by 11 points with under 4:00 left in regulation, the Rockets' Corey Brewer made it close, willing his team to the nail-biting finish.

Brewer scored Houston's final 17 points, but missed what would've been a game-tying three-pointer with :7 seconds remaining.

Brewer's astonishing stint highjacked the spotlight from Meyers Leonard, who buoyed the Blazers a period earlier.

In the first :90 seconds of the third quarter LaMarcus Aldridge picked up his second, third and fourth fouls. He went to the bench and in checked Leonard.

The Rockets were licking their chops.

But Leonard made a corner three. On the ensuing play, as Leonard caught the ball at the top of the arc, the Rockets sagged off. He cooly stepped up and drained another. A few plays later, Leonard drove the lane and scored a floater.

In just over eight minutes, Leonard scored eight points, grabbed three rebounds and, along with Nicolas Batum, who also made a pair of three's, set the Moda Center crowd ablaze while giving the Blazers a healthy lead.

It looked like the Blazers would cruise from there on out--especially with Houston's James Harden playing as poorly as he was. Harden scored 18 points on the evening, and just four in the second half. After pouring in at least 40 in each of the last three meetings between the teams, perhaps Harden was due for a stinker.

But the Rockets--and particularly Brewer--would not quit. They wanted this game, and it's tie-breaking implications, just as much as the Blazers. Houston showed it most in their swarming defense, which forced 20 Portland turnovers.

Thanks clutch free throw shooting and a balanced effort, though, the Blazers prevailed. And perhaps for Wesley Matthews, who watched after having surgery earlier in the day, it helped ease a little of the pain.

A-	LaMarcus Aldridge Although Aldridge's minutes (33) were limited by foul trouble, he still managed to rack up a whopping 26 points and 14 rebounds. A strong, efficient performance that took advantage of Houston's lack of size with Dwight Howard out (but he did have five turnovers).
A	Nicolas Batum It may be safe to say that Batum's slump is finally over. Along with Leonard, Batum led a third quarter charge that allowed the Blazers to weather Brewer's storm in the fourth. Batum made a pair of big three's, and continued facilitating as point-forward. He finished with 18 points, Wednesday, to go along with nine rebounds and six assists (and four turnovers). It was the fourth game in a row that Batum scored 15-or-more. The last time he had such a streak was back in January of 2013. And, not to be forgotten: Batum played tremendous defense on James Harden.
A	Robin Lopez Lopez was marvelous, Wednesday. He made 7-of-10 shots from the field, good for 16 points, and 4-of-his-10 rebounds came on the offensive end. Lopez was also the only Blazers starter without a turnover.
C-	Arron Afflalo In his second game starting in place of Matthews, Afflalo struggled. He made just 2-of-13 from the field, though his second make was an important three down the stretch. At times, he seemed to be pressing, and to be sure: he's still finding his way with his new team.
B-	Damian Lillard Lillard's shot was off. He made just 5-of-16 from the floor and 1-of-5 from deep, good for 14 points. He compensated by dishing eight assists and grabbing five boards.
A	Damian Lillard Leonard truly energized the Blazers, scoring eight points in eight minutes. At the end of his run, as timeout was called, Leonard doubled-over, totally exhausted and out of breath. Nonetheless, it was an excellent display of the second-year players readiness--in the previous three games Leonard had played a total of four minutes.