Blazers Ride Nurkic Past Rockets, 110-101

After losing Friday night, the Portland Trail Blazers relied on their starting center to carry them ahead of the red-hot Houston Rockets Saturday night in the Moda Center. Jusuf Nurkic finished with another double-double, and Portland won 110-101.

The Bosnian Beast shot 11-of-18 from the field for 25 points, while he grabbed 15 rebounds and gave out three assists. C.J. McCollum scored 24 points to finish right behind Nurkic in the second game of the back-to-back. Damian Lillard finished with a 17-point, 12-assist double-double.

Portland snapped James Harden’s five-game streak of scoring at least 40 points. Harden finished with 38 points, but he shot horribly. Harden went 13-of-35(!!!) from the field including five-of-17 from beyond the arc.

The Blazers also made a change in the starting lineup as Evan Turner got the nod instead of Maurice Harkless, who did not play against the Rockets. Turner finished with 14 points, four assists, three rebounds, a steal, a block and no turnovers.

Up next, the New York Knicks come to the Moda Center on Monday to play Portland, who will be playing in their third game of a five game home stand.

@1029TheGame