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Adelman, Rockets hope to avoid third straight loss

Apr 3, 2008 - 4:18 PM Houston (49-25) at Portland (38-37) 10:30 pm EDT

PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) - A loss to the one of coach Rick Adelman's former teams on Tuesday struck an unexpected blow to his Houston Rockets. They have to hope they aren't in for a repeat on Thursday.

The Rockets look to snap a three-game slide when they meet the team where Adelman began his coaching career at the Rose Garden.

Adelman, who led Portland to two Western Conference titles in six seasons from 1988-94, also roamed the sidelines for the Sacramento Kings for eight seasons before sitting out last season.

In his first season at the helm for the Rockets, he directed Houston to a 22-game winning streak - the second-longest streak in NBA history - from January 29 through March 16 until the Rockets fell to the Boston Celtics on March 18.

However, the Rockets have sputtered since, winning just three of their last eight contests to fall into sixth place in the Western Conference, three games back of New Orleans (52-22). However, their last loss was perhaps their most surprising as they fell 99-98 on the road against the Kings.

At least the Rockets has the schedule in their favor. After Portland, they play Seattle twice and the Los Angeles Clippers once - all teams that are well out of the playoff picture.

The Blazers dropped their third straight game on Wednesday, 104-91, to the Los Angeles Lakers. Each loss has come without All-Star guard Brandon Roy, who is expected to miss this contest as well.

Portland needs to win four of its remaining seven games to finish with a winning record for the first time since 2002-03.