Tonight, the Houston Rockets visit Portland for a rematch with the Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n
Portland has been on a roll, winning five of its last six games. You can only play the competition in front of you, but those victories have come against Eastern Conference opponents (BOS), losing teams (DAL, NOP, UTA) or teams playing without their best player (SAS & BOS).<\/p>\n
The Blazers will face a tougher test tonight when the Rockets take the court at Moda Center. While neither team will be at full strength, Houston has offensive and defensive ratings in the top ten and is led by all-time great, Kevin Durant. In November, Houston blew out Portland 140-116. Tonight will be an exciting challenge for the surging Blazers.<\/p>\n
Houston Rockets – (22-11) at Portland Trail Blazers (17-20) Wed., Jan. 7 – 7:00pm Pacific<\/p>\n
How to watch via antenna or cable: See your options on the<\/a> Rip City Television Network<\/a><\/p>\n How to stream: BlazerVision in Oregon and Washington; League Pass everywhere else<\/p>\n How to listen: Trail Blazers Audio Network<\/a><\/p>\n SB Nation Affiliate: The Dream Shake<\/a><\/p>\n Trail Blazers Injuries: Scoot Henderson, Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard, Matisse Thybulle, Blake Wesley (Out); Kris Murray (Doubtful).<\/p>\n Rockets injuries: Isaiah Crawford, Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn, Fred VanVleet (Out).<\/p>\n Kit: The Blazers will take the floor in their white Association Edition jerseys<\/a>. Houston will wear its red Icon Edition unis.<\/p>\n Trail Blazers:<\/a> Points, Avdija (25.9 per game). Rebounds, Clingan (10.8). Assists, Holiday (8.3). Steals, Thybulle (2.5). Blocks, Clingan (1.4). Trail Blazers:<\/a> Offensive rating: 113.6 (21st place) Defensive rating: 116.2 (19th place) Jefferson High School and Portland Trail Blazers alum, Ime Udoka, enters the game with a 7-3 record<\/a> as head coach against his former team. Tiago Splitter coached the Blazers for just one of those games. He is 0-1 vs. Udoka.<\/p>\n This month, Kevin Durant, the former No. 2 NBA draft pick, is likely to pass Wilt Chamberlain<\/a> (31,419) for No. 7 on the all-time scoring list, Elvin Hayes (10,976) for No. 10 on the all-time field goals made list AND Jason Terry (2,282) for No. 11 on the all-time made three-pointers list. (BTW, he\u2019ll need just nine more 3-pointers after passing Terry to overtake Vince Carter [2,290] for tenth place.) In his most recent outing, the 37-year-old future Hall of Famer hit a game winner with 1.1 seconds left to give Houston a 100-97 win over Phoenix. Not bad KD.<\/p>\n With Houston\u2019s Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn sitting out with a sprained ankle, Blazers big man Donovan Clingan will square off against Rockets\u2019 reserve, Steven Adams. Starting in place of \u015eeng\u00fcn on Monday night, Adams had eight points and seven rebounds against the Suns. Meanwhile, Clingan had 12 points and 17 boards versus the Jazz. His game has improved in nearly every statistical category<\/a> over last year. Clingan is currently the fifth best rebounder in the league<\/a> and has been a vocal leader at both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n The Blazers jumped three spots on The Athletic\u2019s power rankings<\/a> based on the commanding play of tight end and Western Conference Player of the Week<\/a>, Deni Avdija. In addition to winning league accolades, the man has notched a birthday victory<\/a>, got his own Blazers glass<\/a> and sits in elite company as one of only three players in the NBA averaging at least 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. They are Nikola Joki\u0107, Luka Don\u010di\u0107 and Blazers MVP, Avdija.<\/p>\n After 23 clutch games decided by five points or less, acting head coach Splitter told The Oregonian\u2019s Joe Freeman<\/a> that he has learned to wait until the final buzzer before celebrating with a cold one.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, when I go to the locker room and I have a beer, that\u2019s it,\u201d Splitter said, smiling, in his postgame interview at the Moda Center. \u201cThat\u2019s when I enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n In his comments after hitting the game-winning shot over Phoenix Monday night, Durant got real about how things ended with his former team:<\/p>\n
Rockets:<\/a> Points, Durant (25.7 per game). Rebounds, \u015eeng\u00fcn (9). Assists, \u015eeng\u00fcn (6.5). Steals, Sheppard (1.5). Blocks, Durant (1).<\/p>\n
Rockets:<\/a> Offensive rating: 120.7 (3rd place) Defensive rating: 112.3 (6th place)<\/p>\n