By Caleb Hersch
Posted at 11:26 pm, April 3

The Trail Blazers played well without two of their starters. The Rockets played better without two of their own.

The Trail Blazers (38-38) lost 95-86 to the Rockets (50-25) without starters Brandon Roy and Martell Webster. LaMarcus Aldridge led the Trail Blazers with 23 points.

The Trail Blazers had five players in double-figures. Jarrett Jack had 19 points. Travis Oulaw scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked two shots. Steve Blake and Channing Frye eached scored 12 points.

With his team missing All-Star center Yao Ming and point guard Rafer Alston, Tracy McGrady took over the game in the second half, scoring 26 of his 35 points after halftime.

McGrady led the Rockets with five assists and grabbed six rebounds. Aaron Brooks scored 12 points off the bench. Dikembe Mutombo scored 11 points and blocked three shots. Bobby Jackson and Luther Head also scored 11 points each.

This was a game full of runs by both teams. After a tight first quarter, the Rockets took over with a 14-4 run midway through the second.

The Trail Blazers countered with a 9-2 run to end the first half, followed by a 16-6 run to start the third quarter to earn Portland its first lead since the opening period.

But minutes later, Tracy McGrady and Bobby Jackson took over the game for the Rockets. McGrady and Jackson scored all of Houston's points on an 11-0 run that ended the third quarter.

Portland cut their deficit to six points by scoring the first five points of the fourth quarter, but that was as close as the Trail Blazers would get. McGrady scored 10 of the next 12 Houston points as the Rockets stretched their lead to 12 with 5:21 to play.

The Trail Blazers sorely missed Roy and Webster, as all five starters played over 38 minutes. Roy, out for a fourth straight game with a groin injury, is Portland's leading scorer and the team is 0-4 since his injury. Webster was suffering from flu-like symptoms and dizziness and was sent to a local hospital for further evaluation.

The Trail Blazers have lost their last two games to teams with bona-fide superstars in Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady. Head coach Nate McMillan recognized the abilities of players of that ilk, and likened his own All-Star, Brandon Roy, to those players.

"In the last two nights you've seen how two great players (Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady) take the game over," McMillan said. "When we made runs, Tracy came back and made shots or set up teammates who made shots. It's just been a challenge to guard those two guys. They give to their teams some of the things that we get from Brandon Roy."

The Trail Blazers next game is Sunday afternoon when they host Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs.

The game is at 3:00 pm at the Rose Garden and will be broadcast on Comcast Sports Network. As always, the game can be heard on 750am KXL. Click here for tickets

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