NBA: Lillard hits game-winning trey to lift Portland past Houston

No Game 7 for this one.

Guard Damian Lillard's three-point shot at the buzzer gave the Portland Trail Blazers a 99-98 victory over the Houston Rockets Friday night  (Saturday, PHL time) to send the Trail Blazers into the Western Conference semifinals.

Forward LaMarcus Aldridge collected 30 points and 13 rebounds and Lillard added 25 points as the Blazers closed out the Rockets in six games. Portland will face the winner of the San Antonio-Dallas series, which stands tied at 3-3.

Guard James Harden scored 34 points and center Dwight Howard contributed 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets.

Lillard's game-winner came after forward Chandler Parsons had given Houston a 98-97 lead on a put-back with 0.9 of a second remaining.

Harden scored 24 points to stake Houston to a two-point halftime lead, sinking 5-of-8 shots from the field, 4-of-5 from three-point range and 10-of-10 from the foul line. Aldridge had 21 points and seven rebounds at the break for the Blazers.

The Rockets started the third quarter on an 8-2 tear to go ahead 66-58. The Blazers gradually chiseled away at the lead, Houston taking a 79-78 edge into the final period.

Forward Thomas Robinson scored a pair of baskets to give Portland an 85-81 lead with nine minutes left. The Blazers led 91-87 before Howard made 4-of-4 at the line to tie it at 91-91, then scored on a layup to give Houston a 93-91 lead with three minutes to play.

Guard Wesley Matthews made 1-of-2 at the line to make it 93-92, and center Robin Lopez's tip-in gave Portland a 94-93 advantage with 2:10 to play. But Howard scored on a put-back, then converted a three-point play to push the Rockets ahead 96-94 with 1:47 to go.

Neither team scored again until Portland forward Nicolas Batum hit a baseline fadeaway to tie the count at 96-96 with 39.9 seconds left.

On Houston's next possession, Howard and Harden missed shots, but the Rockets retained possession when Lillard grabbed the rebound after stepping out-of-bounds. The Rockets worked the clock, and Harden's shot bounced off the rim to Parson, who converted a reverse layup to give the visitors the lead with 0.9 on the clock.



Then Lillard buried the shot that sent the Moda Center denizens into a frenzy, celebrating the Blazers' first playoff series win since 2000.

Portland, with a fired-up throng of fans rocking the arena, jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the game's first 90 seconds.

Harden scored 11 points in first 5.5 minutes to stake Houston to a 15-13 lead. The Rockets increased the advantage to 27-17 late in the first quarter. The Blazers responded with an 8-0 run and closed the gap to 29-28 on a Lillard three-pointer as the first quarter ended.

Portland took the lead at 34-32 on a jumper by Robinson early in the second quarter. The Rockets went back on top 48-42, but Portland answered with a 7-0 spurt to go in front 49-48 with 3:25 left in the quarter. Houston, using 16 fast-break points to full advantage, took a 58-56 lead into the half. - Reuters



The scores:

TRAIL BLAZERS 99 - Aldridge 30, Lillard 25, Lopez 12, Matthews 12, Batum 9, Robinson 8, Williams 3, Wright 0

ROCKETS 98 - Harden 34, Howard 26, Parsons 16, Lin 11, Jones 5, Asik 4, Beverly 2, Daniels 0

Portland        28-28-22-21
Houston        29-29-21-19