----- James Harden scored 42 points as the Houston Rockets ended the Trail Blazers' 13-game winning streak with a 115-111 victory Tuesday night at Moda Center.
The streak is over. The Rockets snapped the Trail Blazers' 13-game winning streak with a 115-111 win Tuesday night at Moda Center. James Harden torched the Blazers' defense with 42 points on 7-for-11 shooting from three-point range.
The Rockets shot lights out from three-point range as a team connecting on 19-for-36 from downtown. Chris Paul added 22 points and Eric Gordon scored 18 points off the bench.
''They're the No. 1 team in the league for a reason. The find ways to win, they've got a lot of shooters out there. James is going to be the MVP of the league. They played how we thought they would play, and our team, I thought we came out and played a good game, too,'' Damian Lillard said. ''We've just got to make a few more plays and make a few more shots if we want to beat a team like that.''
While Paul and Harden combined for 64 points, Lillard and CJ McCollum struggled to hit shots. Lillard scored just 20 points on 5-for-17 shooting while McCollum had his second-lowest scoring night of the season with just eight points on 4-for-15 shooting. The two combined to go scoreless from three-point range missing all 12 of their shots.
Portland (44-27) was led by their front court. Al-farouq Aminu scored 16 of his 22 points in the first quarter while connecting on 6-for-8 from downtown and Maurice Harkless added 17 points on 5-for-5 shooting. Jusuf Nurkic had one of his best games of the season finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks on 9-for-10 shooting.
NEXT UP- The Trail Blazers will host the Boston Celtics Friday night at Moda Center. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7:00 PM.
Chad's Take- In a game of stars, Dame and CJ combined to go 0-for-12 from downtown. Can't beat the Rockets without star-power.