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Blazers beat Rockets, stay hot at home

Jan 3, 2011 - 6:55 AM Portland, OR (Sports Network) - LaMarcus Aldridge had a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers earned their eighth straight home win with a 100-85 victory over Houston.

Nicolas Batum added 21 points and Wesley Matthews and Patrick Mills both scored 14 for the Blazers, who haven't lost inside the Rose Garden since November 26.

Portland built a 17-point lead through three quarters and won for the sixth time in eight games overall.

"We did a good job executing the game plan and defensively (did) a nice job of being physical," said Blazers head coach Nate McMillan.

Kevin Martin scored 15 points to lead the Rockets, who lost for the second time in three games on the heels of a five-game winning streak. Courtney Lee added 12 points in the setback.

Houston didn't hold a lead after the 5:35 mark of the first quarter, but Portland failed to take control of the game until late in the third.

The Blazers stretched their lead from five points to 17 with a 12-0 run sparked by Aldridge's hook shot. Aldridge threw down an alley-oop dunk later in the burst and followed it with a steal that led to Batum's bank shot for a 75-58 advantage.

The lead was as high as 19 points before Aaron Brooks' layup pulled Houston within 79-62 heading into the final quarter.

Portland's advantage ballooned to 23 on a Mills bucket with seven minutes remaining and never dipped below 13 the rest of the way.

"We were stuck behind all night. We weren't ready to play," said Rockets head coach Rick Adelman.

It was the first time the Blazers won eight straight at home since a 12-game streak from January 24-March 9, 2009.

They led by as many as eight points on the way to a 27-25 edge after the first quarter, and they were ahead by as much as 12 in the second before heading to the locker room with a 54-48 advantage.

Game Notes

Portland also extended its home winning streak over Houston, pushing it to four games...The Blazers shot 43 percent from the field to Houston's 41.