The injured Portland Trail Blazers couldn’t manage a pretty game versus the Houston Rockets tonight. They played one brilliant quarter, built a huge lead, then frittered it away with poor defense. When the chips were down, they went to their old standby, the three-point shots. That, and 30 points from Damian Lillard kept Portland alive through the final seconds of the game, but in the end, they fell short by a final score of 104-101.
Derrick Jones, Jr. ruled the first quarter. High-flying dunks were only the beginning of it. He grabbed rebounds, disrupted passes, and was the active ingredient in Portland’s attack.