[9:00 PM] Rockets @ Trail Blazers

Who will WIN this matchup?

Houston Rockets (10-6)

@ Portland Trail Blazers (9-9)

 

• The line for this game is Houston by 2.5 points.

• The Houston Rockets aren’t afraid to hoist up shots from anywhere as the NBA leaders in 3-point field goal attempts visit the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. Houston kicked off its second five-game road trip of the young season with its fourth victory in five contests – a 117-104 win over Sacramento on Friday behind an NBA-record 50 attempts from 3-point range and James Harden’s fourth triple-double of the season.

• Four players average more than six attempts from 3-point range including Anderson, whose 40 percent success rate betters those of Trevor Ariza (39.3), Eric Gordon (36.3) and Harden (35.8). Gordon (14.9 points per game), Ariza (12.4) and Anderson (12.3) join center Clint Capela (11.9) as Houston’s double-figure scorers while Capela grabs a team-most 8.7 rebounds. The Rockets are 4-1 since point guard Patrick Beverley (8.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists) returned to the lineup after missing the first 11 games of the season with a left knee injury.

• C.J. McCollum (22 points per game) is the other half of the second-highest scoring duo in the NBA (Golden State’s Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry), scoring 24 Friday after recording a total of 29 in his previous two contests. Maurice Harkless (season-high 11 rebounds Friday) is Portland’s only other double-figure scorer at 12.1 points. Lillard’s 509 points through the first 18 games are the most in club history, surpassing Geoff Petrie’s 494 in 1973.

• Harden paces the NBA in assists at 12.4 per game as he tries to become the first player since the Kansas City Scouts’ Nate “Tiny” Archibald in 1972-73 to lead the league in points and assists.

• The teams split four meetings last season – the final three in a 20-day stretch in February – with each winning once on the other’s home floor.

• Portland (109.4 points per game) and Houston (108.5) are the fourth- and fifth-highest scoring teams in the NBA.

 

StreakSmarts Pick: Portland Trailblazers

Confidence: 4/10

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