The Portland Trail Blazers (7-5) visit the Houston Rockets (6-5) at the Toyota Center on Thursday, Nov. 17 in a 2016-2017 NBA season match.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 8:00 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru the NBA League Pass.
Preview
Portland snapped a two-game winning run with a crushing 113-88 loss in the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday at their home court of Moda Center as the backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum both struggled during the match, as per Oregon Live.
Lillard scored 19 points on 7-for-22 field goal shooting while McCollum had 17 points shooting 7-for-17 from the field. The tandem's struggles defined the game for the Blazers as the team shot 34-for-95 collectively for only 35.8 percent.
Small forward Allan Crabbe came off the bench to become the only other player in double figures for Portland with 15 points.
The Blazers was down by as many as 26 points during the match and was not in contention right from the tipoff as the Bulls raced to a 35-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Portland played its third consecutive match without starting power forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who is out with an injured left calf. Meyers Leonard took his place in the starting five, but the former Illinois standout was scoreless in 15 minutes for head coach Terry Stotts.
Meanwhile, the Rockets have been mercurial lately as they split their last four matches.
Their most recent game was on Wednesday and it ended in a tough 105-103 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, USA Today reported.
James Harden, who is the league's fourth-leading scorer and top passer, had a bad night, shooting 4-for-16 from the field for only 13 points, his lowest output so far this season. He also had seven rebounds and 13 assists.
Ryan Anderson top-scored for Houston with 14 points while starters Clint Capela and Eric Gordon also had 13 points each. Trevor Ariza fired 11 points as all five starters of head coach Mike D'Antoni scored in double figures.
Prediction
The Blazers are 3-2 two on away games this season while the Rockets are 2-1 at home. Both teams' superstars are coming off lackluster shooting performances and would want to bounce back big-time. Houston holds the slight advantage playing at home and the Rockets are predicted to win a close one.
