For the third time during their four-game Summer League play, the Portland Trail Blazers dug themselves into a hole, trailing by double-figures after the opening quarter. For the third time, it also didn’t matter much. Channeling a mixture of unselfishness and grittiness the rest of the way, Portland was able to ride that momentum to a 85-77 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Over the four-game span, Portland has outscored opponents by a score of 96-54 in second quarters, and they shook those jitters off quickly again tonight. The box score showed only one double-digit scorer — Keon Johnson led the way with 25 points on a pristine 8-of-13 shooting — but nine different players scored six or more in the win.