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Houston Rockets fall to Blazers and drop under .500 again – Player Grades

By Andre Cantalogo

Feb 10, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (2) looks to pass around Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) during the second quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (2) looks to pass around Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) during the second quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports /
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For the second time in 5 days the Houston Rockets lost to the Portland Trail Blazers which drops them under .500. Here’s the player grades from the Rockets final game prior to the All-Star break.

From the beginning the Rockets and the Blazers provided fans with a very close contested game featuring two evenly matched teams. Oddly enough the game’s first quarter was noteworthy for the Rockets due to the fact that until Corey Brewer’s three at the buzzer, all 26 points had been scored by either Dwight Howard or James Harden.

The duo’s usage rate kept increasing as the game progressed and in fact they both ended up with good performances. The problem was that no one else on the Rockets team came even remotely close to having what we would consider a respectful game. While the Blazers had 6 players in double figures, the Rockets had 2.

In the end the Houston Rockets 20 plus turnovers and lack of defensive awareness was probably too much and the Oregon side earned the home win despite great performances by Houston’s star duo. The Rockets drop back under .500 again and are out of the playoff picture, something that will likely force GM Daryl Morey’s hand prior to next Thursday at 3 PM. (not that he wasn’t planning on making some changes prior to the loss).

Rockets Player Grades

C-. <a href=. SF. Houston Rockets. TREVOR ARIZA

F. Houston Rockets. COREY BREWER. D. I fully understand that firing up the three-point shot is still (no idea why) a huge part of Houston Rockets’ strategy. Yet.. it makes no sense that <a href=

A. It was pretty clear from the start that <a href=. C. Houston Rockets. DWIGHT HOWARD

Houston Rockets. JAMES HARDEN. A. Another good game by <a href=. SG

Houston Rockets. PATRICK BEVERLEY. D. <a href=. PG

Best Reserve

C. Basically Jason Terry entered the court because no one else except Harden and Howard were knocking down their shots. He entered the fray in the fourth and by far was the best performer of the once again dreadful bench. Indeed he was actually the third best player overall by the Rockets tonight. It just goes to show how bizarrely Bickerstaff’s team performed if Terry was the third best of the bunch. 8 points for the Jet.. G. Houston Rockets. JASON TERRY

Best Opponent:

PG. Portland Trail Blazers. DAMIAN LILLARD. A. <a href=

Next: Trade Deadline Countdown: Pablo Prigioni Back to Rockets?

With the trade deadline around the corner make sure you visit Space City Scoop daily for our trade series. Each day SCS will feature an article on who the Rockets should trade for or what it would take to part ways with the players currently on the roster. Finally we’ll assess the Rockets and each team in the Association in terms of what their needs are, if they should be buyers or sellers and also speculate on who would be the ideal trade target.

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