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Blazers and Rockets battle in Space City

Jan 14, 2012 - 5:11 PM (Sports Network) - Portland will finish a two-day Texas tour in Houston on Saturday hoping to put the brakes on a two-game skid.

The Trail Blazers opened a grueling six-game road trip in losing fashion on Friday when the Spurs' Tony Parker scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, as San Antonio controlled the final stanza to upend Portland, 99-83.

The Spurs improved to 8-0 at home and won for just the second time in 10 meetings against Portland.

LaMarcus Aldridge posted 29 points to lead the Blazers, who were coming off a 107-104 loss against the Magic on Wednesday. Gerald Wallace finished with 12 points and as many rebounds for Portland, which got 13 points from Raymond Felton and 12 from Wesley Matthews.

"Their second unit came in and played big for them," Aldridge said. "They put pressure on us, crashed the boards hard, they just had more energy than us tonight."

To make matters worse for the Blazers center Marcus Camby went down with a sprained left ankle with 4:22 to play in the second quarter. Camby, the team's leading rebounder at 8.7 per game, will not be available tonight but hopes to return at some point on the current road trip.

Portland, which is 1-3 as the visitor on the year, will also face New Orleans, Atlanta, Toronto and Detroit before returning to Rip City.

The Rockets, meanwhile, won for the second time in three games on Friday by downing Sacramento, 103-89, in Space City. Kyle Lowry had 25 points to lead five Houston players in double figures in that one.

Samuel Dalembert and Luis Scola both had 21 points to go along with 16 and 11 rebounds, respectively, while Kevin Martin netted 13 points and Chandler Parsons added 11 for the Rockets.

"In the second half we picked it up," said Lowry. "We made big shots and big plays when we needed to."

Portland won two of three from Houston last season, and its 103-100 win at the Toyota Center last January snapped a six-game skid there. Overall, the Blazers have dropped 12 of their past 14 visits to Space City.