------ The Houston Rockets used a 25-4 third quarter run surge past the Portland Trail Blazers Monday night at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Jalen Green scored 27 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 110-92 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
It was the Rockets' ninth straight win, their longest winning streak since 2019.
At 36-35, Houston is now just a half game behind Golden State for the final spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament.
Dalano Banton recorded a career-first double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds, Scoot Henderson added 15 points and four assists, and Toumani Camara finished with 12 points, five rebounds, and two steals.
The Trail Blazers led by four at halftime and used an 11-2 run to push their lead to nine at 64-55 with 7:32 left in the third quarter, but the Rockets exploded for a 25-4 run to take control of the game.
Portland pulled to within seven at 95-88 with 5:01 to play, but Houston put the game away with a 15-2 run.
“I thought we had a really good first half and had some good moments in that third quarter, but the game kind of turned,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “They picked up their defensive pressure, and we just didn’t respond well to it. Give them credit. They turned it up when they needed to, defensively, against a young group.”
Up Next- The Trail Blazers will meet the Hawks Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta. The game is scheduled to tip off at 4:30 PM.
Chad's Take- The all-rookie lineup played hard but ran out of gas in the second half.