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Rockets continue home court battle with Jazz

Apr 11, 2007 - 4:25 PM Houston (49-29) at Portland (31-46) 10:00 pm EDT

PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) - The Houston Rockets will try to hold onto the fourth-best record in the Western Conference on Wednesday when they visit the Portland Trail Blazers, who have given them trouble this season.

The Rockets (49-29) have inched ahead of the Utah Jazz (48-29) for the fourth-best record, which translates to home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. That could come in handy for a team that has not won a playoff series in 10 years.

With wins in three of their final four games, the Rockets will finish with their best record since the 1996-97 season, when they advanced to the conference finals. Houston visits Utah in the final game of the season.

The Rockets are coming off Monday's 95-90 victory at Seattle in which Yao Ming scored 31 points despite a hard foul from Nick Collison that led to a brief altercation between players on both teams. Houston has won two straight following a three-game losing streak.

However, the Rockets have not played well against the Trail Blazers this season, averaging 88.0 points and shooting 42.7 percent in losing two of three meetings.

Portland has lost six of eight and is limping toward the finish. The Blazers already were without leading scorer and rebounder Zach Randolph for the remainder of the season when they announced Monday that rookie LaMarcus Aldridge also will sit out the rest of the way.

Aldridge, who was taken to the hospital March 31 after experiencing dizziness and a rapid heartbeat, was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome. The 6-10 forward is being treated and could play again as soon as this summer.

One of the wins in Portland's recent slump was an 85-78 victory at Houston on Friday. Brandon Roy, the favorite for Rookie of the Year, scored 24 points in that contest.

Former Blazer Bonzi Wells will miss the rest of the season for the Rockets, a decision made by the team after Wells informed the team trainer that he would be staying in the hotel and not joining the squad for the contest against Seattle.