Young Trail Blazers melt down during 2nd half in loss at Houston Rockets

For the second consecutive match, the Portland Trail Blazers launched a five-year rookie onto an NBA court. And for the second game in a row, the group held on for a while before losing to a superior opponent.

The Blazers, who started Scoot Henderson, Kris Murray, Toumani Camara, Rayan Rupert and Duop Reath for the Houston Rockets, led at halftime before collapsing in the second half before losing 110-92.

What doomed Portland? What generally dooms Portland? Bad shots and/or turnovers.

In the crucial third quarter, the Blazers shot just 33.3 percent from the field (7 of 21) while committing as many turnovers (seven) as they made field goals. The Rockets used a 33-20 quarter to take an 80-71 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Blazers briefly cut the lead to 95-88 with 5:01 remaining. But the Rockets responded with a 15-2 run to go up 110-90 with 1:01 on the clock.

“I thought we had a really good first half,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups told reporters at the Toyota Center. “And we had some good moments during that third quarter. Then the game kind of turned. They resumed their defensive pressure and we didn’t respond very well. Seventeen turnovers but, I tell you, it was more like 21, 22. Then some of our shots were kind of turnovers as well. We gave each other hard looks. Difficult shots. But you give (the Rockets) credit. They stepped up when they needed to defensively and against a young and inexperienced group and made us speed up a little. We lost our composure a little. So there were some good learning moments for our young people.

Dalano Banton came off the bench to lead the Blazers with 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting. He also had 11 rebounds and five assists while recording his first career double-double.

Henderson scored 15 points with five assists and Camara added 12 points with five rebounds.

The Blazers shot 42.4% from the field for the game and just 34.1% in the second half.

Jalen Green led the Rockets with 27 points, including 19 in the second half. The Rockets shot just 39.8 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from three, but 20 second-chance points compared to the Blazers’ nine certainly helped the Rockets overcome their poor shooting.

WHAT THIS MEANS

The Blazers (19-53) have now lost seven straight games. Their last victory came on March 13 at home against the Atlanta Hawks, the Blazers’ opponent on Wednesday. Portland’s longest losing streak of the season is nine.

The Rockets (36-35), 11th in the Western Conference, won their ninth consecutive game. They occupy half a game behind the Golden State Warriors (36-34) for 10th place and the last play-in place.

FOLLOWING

The Blazers face the Hawks (32-39) Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.