Portland Trail Blazers Team Report - November 22

(Basketball News) - The Portland Trail Blazers found themselves on the wrong end of a 97-93 decision against the Houston Rockets at the Rose Garden.

Zach Randolph paced Portland with 28 points and 14 boards. Damon Stoudamire collected 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have dropped five of their last seven contests.

Houston was clinging to a two-point lead with five minutes left in the third quarter. However, the Rockets closed the period with a 12-4 spurt, ignited by Tracy McGrady’s three-pointer, to grab a 77-67 advantage after 36 minutes.

Portland kept chipping away in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to 93-91 on a follow-up basket by Randolph with 35.9 seconds remaining.

The Rockets then got the ball to McGrady and he drained a 22-foot jumper with 13.2 seconds left to increase the margin to four.

After Derek Anderson converted a layup for Portland, the Trail Blazers fouled Jackson with 7.3 seconds left and he proceeded to make both attempts from the stripe to seal it.

Portland will return to action on Tuesday against Miami.