Trail Blazers get first road win, beating Rockets 104-92

Updated Nov. 12, 2021 10:36 p.m. ET

Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Damian Lillard scored 20 points, CJ McCollum added 17 and the Portland Trail Blazers cruised past the Houston Rockets 104-92 on Friday night, finally getting their first road victory of the season.

Portland is 1-6 on the road and 5-1 at home. The Rockets are the league’s only winless team on the road at 0-7. They are an NBA-worst 1-11.

Portland led for most of the game, building a lead as large as 17 points, but Houston cut it to seven with less than two minutes remaining on a 3-pointer by Kevin Porter Jr. before the Blazers pulled away.

Porter led the Rockets with 18 points, Jae’Sean Tate had 14, and Christian Wood added eight points and 15 rebounds.

Lillard was 6 of 16 from the field, including 4 of 9 from 3-point range. He added seven assists and five rebounds. Jusuf Nurkic had 12 points and 10 rebounds, going 10 for 10 from the free-throw line.

Houston led early, but Portland closed out the first quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 30-27 lead into the second quarter. The Blazers had a season-high 30 first-quarter points.

Portland led 55-45 at halftime in large part due to Houston’s ice-cold 2-for-18 shooting from the 3-point line in the first half.

The Rockets finished the game 7 of 32 from beyond the arc, just 21.9%. Houston also made just 17 of 27 from the free-throw line for 63%.

TIP-INS

Trail Blazers: SF Nassir Little had a season-high 13 points off the bench, headlined by a thunderous third-quarter dunk over Rockets rookie C Alperen Sengun. Little added a career-high 14 rebounds for his first double-double since his rookie season in 2018-19.

Rockets: Sengun returned after a one-game absence with illness. Sengun had 12 points. … Tate received a technical from the bench following a foul called on him midway through the first quarter. The Rockets received three first-half technical fouls for addressing officials. … Eric Gordon matched a career high with three blocks.

UP NEXT

Trail Blazers: At Denver on Sunday night.

Rockets: Host Phoenix on Sunday night.