Blazers Fall to 0-3 After 89-80 Loss at Houston

Brandon Roy scored 23 and former Texas star LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 for Portland.

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HOUSTON, Texas - Yao Ming had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Tracy McGrady added 20 points and six assists as the Houston Rockets improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season with an 89-80 win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night.

Yao scored only eight points and McGrady only five the second half, but the Rockets stayed in control with their defense, forcing 18 turnovers and holding the Blazers to 41 percent shooting (31 of 76) for the game.

Brandon Roy scored 23 and former Texas star LaMarcus Aldridge added 20 for Portland, off to its first 0-3 start since the 1986-87 season.

Following a 47-point effort at Utah on Thursday, McGrady started 4-for-8 on Saturday night, then went 4-for-15 the rest of the way. Yao went 2-for-7 in the second half and even missed a dunk.

The Rockets never needed big games from either All-Star because the Blazers were off-target from the start.

Houston opened with an 18-4 run as Portland missed 14 of their first 17 shots. Yao and McGrady scored 20 points together in the first quarter as Houston built a 25-12 lead.

Yao flipped in a turnaround jumper to start a 9-0 burst that pushed the lead over 20 early in the second quarter. Yao hit six of his first eight shots.

The Blazers cut Houston's lead to 15 before McGrady returned after a long rest. He promptly sank two long jumpers, then drove through traffic for another basket to stretch the lead to 42-23.

Portland trailed 46-31 at the break after shooting 29.7 percent (11 of 37) and committing 13 turnovers.

Channing Frye and Aldridge scored inside in the first minute of the third quarter as Portland closed the deficit to 11. The Rockets missed their first five shots before Chuck Hayes made a layup off an assist from McGrady.

The Blazers hit 7 of their first 9 shots after the break and Roy's pull-up jumper with 6:03 left in the third quarter pulled Portland to within eight, at 54-46. Out of a time out, McGrady found Luis Scola for an easy layup to restore the double-digit lead.

Portland missed its last eight shots of the third quarter and Houston led 62-46 heading to the fourth.

Roy scored to end the Blazers' drought, but Mike James answered with a long jumper from the wing. James was 3-for-7 from 3-point range and scored 17 for Houston

The teams virtually traded baskets until Aldridge scored twice to cut the deficit to eight in the final two minutes. McGrady finished off Portland with a 3-pointer from the wing with 1:25 left that put the Rockets up 83-72.

Story by: The Associated Press

Courtesy: NBA.com

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