The 42-33 Houston Rockets will travel to play the 3-42 Portland Trailblazers in an NBA pro basketball game on Friday night. Tip off time from Portland is scheduled for 10:30PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by ESPN.
The odds from this NBA pro basketball game will be out on Friday afternoon as LaMarcus Aldridge is probable with an ankle problem. Nicolas Batum is out with a shoulder injury.
The teams have met three times this season with Portland winning two of the three games. Each team covered the spread once with one push.
Houston has a road record of 15-22 on the year. The Rockets win their third straight after a 112-102 road victory on Wednesday to the Sacramento Kings as a -4 point betting favorite. The total landed under 219 ½ points. The Rockets shot 48.8% from the floor and made 10 of 30 three pointers. They survived 19 turnovers by pulling down seven more rebounds and limiting the Rockets to just 39.1% shooting. Chandler Parson led Houston with 29 points and four assists as he made 12 of his 18 shots. Houston is a high scoring team pushing across 106 points a game ranking second in the NBA in scoring offense with 106 points a game average. The Rockets are sitting in the seventh seed in the Western conference holding a 3 ½ game lead over the ninth seeded Utah Jazz with only seven games remaining.
The Trailblazers are 22-14 playing at home. They lose their sixth straight and eighth in ten games after a 94-76 home defeat on Wednesday to the Memphis Grizzlies as a +7 ½ point underdog. The game finished under 189 points. Portland fell behind 32-21 after one quarter in defeat. They shoot 41.2% from the floor and made only 4 of 29 three pointers. The Trailblazers allowed 50.7% shooting to the Grizzlies and gave away the game to Memphis by committing 19 turnovers. Point guard Damian Lillard led the team with 17 points and six assists as he made 8 of his 19 points. Leading scored LaMarcus Aldridge missed the game for Portland due to injury. The Trailblazers playoff chances are slim as they sit in the 11th seed in the Western conference and trailing the eighth seeded LA Lakers by six games with seven games remaining. Portland will likely miss the playoffs because of their defense. The team is 28th and third last in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage by allowing 47.1% shooting to opponents.
