The Houston Rockets will look to make it three in a row from the NBA “bubble” in Florida when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers in a nationally televised game on Tuesday night.
Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. Central. The game will be broadcast nationally on TNT and regionally on AT&T SportsNet Southwest (with Houston announcers), and it can be streamed via NBA League Pass.
On paper, the Blazers (30-38) aren’t nearly as daunting of an opponent for Houston as either Dallas (40-29) or Milwaukee (54-13), who were defeated by the Rockets (42-24) on Friday and Sunday.
But with James Harden and Russell Westbrook‘s Rockets coming off a win over the NBA’s top team by record and the No. 2 team (the 50-15 Los Angeles Lakers) looming Thursday, might this be a trap game?
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It could also be argued that Damian Lillard and the Blazers are a tough matchup for the Rockets, since they’re 2-1 against Houston this season — led by a pair of double-digit victories in the most recent matchups on Jan. 15 and Jan. 29. However, both of those games featured Clint Capela and came prior to Houston’s tactical switch to a smaller lineup.
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That small lineup could make for a fascinating contrast with the Blazers, who now have seven-foot center Jusuf Nurkić back after missing most of the 2019-20 season due to a broken leg suffered late last season. Nurkic has been a revelation at the restart, averaging 24 points (54.5% FG), 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3.5 blocks in 32.5 minutes per game.
Add Nurkic to a lineup led by Lillard, who is in the NBA’s top six in points (28.9) and assists (8.0) per game this season, and the Blazers are almost certainly more dangerous than their sub-.500 record. At the restart, Portland is 1-1 — with an overtime win over Memphis (32-35) and a close loss to Boston (44-22), well regarded as an East contender.
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The Blazers are expected to start Lillard, CJ McCollum, Nurkic, Zach Collins, and former Rockets forward Carmelo Anthony. Houston will counter with its All-Star backcourt of Westbrook and Harden, along with the frontcourt of Danuel House Jr., Robert Covington, and P.J. Tucker.
The Rockets are now up to No. 4 in the close Western Conference race for playoff seeding, just a game back of Denver (43-23) for the No. 3 spot. The Blazers, meanwhile, lead San Antonio (29-37) by percentage points in the race for the West’s No. 9 seed and a potential play-in tournament versus No. 8 Memphis (32-35) for the eighth and final playoff spot.
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