 |
| Rockets Houston |
Rockets Houston - LaMarcus Aldridge's son JJ, who turned 5 on Wednesday, texted him after the Portland Trail Blazers' playoff win and told him he looked like Spider-Man on one of his dunks.
Aldridge continued his dominance against the Rockets, scoring 43 points to lift the Trail Blazers to a 112-105 victory and a 2-0 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Aldridge has made the most of the return to his home state and put the Trail Blazers in control heading home for Game 3 in Portland on Friday. Aldridge became the first player with consecutive games of 43 points games in the playoffs since Tracy McGrady did it in April 2003 after scoring a career-high and franchise playoff-record 46 in an overtime win in Game 1.
He's also the first player Trail Blazers history to have two 40-point games in the postseason and his 89 points in a team's first two playoff games trail only Michael Jordan (1986, 1988) and Jerry West (1965) in the last 50 years.
Damian Lillard made six free throws down the stretch to help out in the win. Aldridge credited coach Terry Stotts for moving him around early in the game to help evade Houston's double-teams.
"I made tough shots," Aldridge said. Lillard made two free throws before Harden fouled out about 10 seconds later. Lillard finished with 18 points.
After missing 20 shots in Game 1, Harden promised a better performance in this game. Aldridge made 10 of Portland's first 14 points of the second half to help the Trail Blazers build a 67-58 lead with about eight minutes left in the quarter. Portland an 83-77 led entering the fourth quarter.
Howard scored Houston's first 13 points and had 19 -- with five dunks -- by the end of the first quarter to help the Rockets to a 31-23 lead.
