NBA Cup: Led by Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason, Rockets suffocate Blazers to take group lead

Posted by author November 23, 2024 NBA

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The Rockets (12-5) are now solo leaders in their NBA Cup group after Friday’s rout of Portland. Dillon Brooks and Tari Eason dominated on both ends.

On night one of a back-to-back between the same teams in the same building, the Houston Rockets took care of business in Friday’s 116-88 blowout victory (box score) over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.

Friday’s game counted towards both the 2024-25 regular-season standings and Emirates NBA Cup 2024 group play, whereas Saturday’s rematch will count solely for the regular season. Halfway through group play, the Rockets are now the solo leader in Western Conference Group A (standings).

Houston is now 12-5 on the season as a whole and 2-0 in Cup play, while Portland is 6-10 and 1-1. The Rockets have won seven of their last eight games, overall, and are 8-2 in home games inside Toyota Center.

In the only loss of those last eight, veteran forward Dillon Brooks was a liability for the Rockets with multiple missed shots in the closing moments at Milwaukee. On Friday versus the Trail Blazers, he made amends in a big way.

In less than 25 minutes played, owing to the blowout and conserving regulars for Saturday, Brooks scored a season-high 28 points and tied his career-high with six made 3-pointers. Brooks connected on 10-of-15 shots overall (66.7%), including 6-of-8 from 3-point range (75.0%).

Other standout players for the Rockets included:

Tari Eason: 22 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, +33 in 22 minutes; 8-of-14 shooting (57.1%)
Amen Thompson: 10 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks; +26 in 24 minutes
Jalen Green: 17 points, 5 rebounds; 6-of-17 shooting (35.3%), 3-of-10 on 3-pointers (30.0%)
Alperen Sengun: 14 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists; 7-of-13 shooting (53.8%)

All players for the Rockets played fewer than 30 minutes, which could perhaps be useful in Saturday’s rematch.

Houston’s elite defense, which now ranks No. 2 in the NBA for the season overall, suffocated Portland into shooting just 26-of-77 overall (33.8%) and 10-of-36 on 3-pointers (27.8%). No Blazers player exceeded 13 points (Shaedon Sharpe, Deni Avdija).

Nov. 22 Rockets-Trail Blazers Highlights

Nov. 22 Interviews and Postgame Stats

Updated NBA Cup Standings, West Group A

Rockets, 2-0, +49 point differential (PD)
Trail Blazers, 1-1, (-14 PD; head-to-head tiebreaker over Minnesota)
Timberwolves, 1-1 (-14 PD)
Kings, 0-1* (+/-0 PD)
Clippers, 0-1* (-21 PD)

(Editor’s note: Overtime points do not count toward differentials. The Kings and Clippers played post-publication time on Friday night.)

In December, the leader of these standings (once all teams have played an NBA Cup game against all others in the same group) will secure one of four berths in the Western Conference knockout rounds. At that time, the leader of West Group B and West Group C will earn the same. The second-place team will remain eligible for the fourth and final berth, which goes to a wild-card team — i.e. the highest-ranked team among second-place group finishers.

Information on potential tiebreakers is available here. Houston’s two remaining NBA Cup games are at Minnesota on Tuesday, Nov. 26, and at Sacramento on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

What’s Next

The Rockets and Blazers will meet again Saturday night inside the same confines of Houston’s Toyota Center. Tipoff of the rematch is also at 7:00 p.m. Central.