PORTLAND, Ore. — Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge each scored 25 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers staved off elimination in the playoffs with an 88-77 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.
The Rockets, who have not advanced out of the first round of the playoffs in six tries since 1997, hold a 3-2 advantage in the series going into Thursday night’s game back in Houston.
Luis Scola led the Rockets with 21 points. Yao Ming had 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Roy, a two-time All-Star and Portland’s leading scorer, missed practice on Monday because of flu-like symptoms, while Aldridge didn’t practice because of a sore right elbow. Both started Tuesday night.
Houston trailed until the fourth quarter, when Yao and Von Wafer hit consecutive jumpers to put the Rockets ahead 68-64. The Blazers tied it at 68, then Greg Oden had another two free throws to give the Blazers back the lead.
Travis Outlaw and Roy padded it with a pair of 3-pointers to make it 77-68 with 5:21 to go. After Roy added a running jumper, the Rose Garden fans were on their feet, with one fan raising a sign that read “Bring down the Rockets!”
Aaron Brooks hit a running jumper to close the Rockets to 80-75, but it was as close as Houston would come.
Portland went on a 17-4 run in the first quarter, taking a 23-13 lead on Aldridge’s 18-footer. But Houston’s Scola hit seven of nine shots from the floor and ended the quarter with 15 points, and the Rockets cut the deficit to 29-26 to start the second quarter.
The Blazers built a 46-36 lead late in the first half, but the Rockets closed within 48-43 on Yao’s dunk. Roy finished out the half with a driving layup to give Portland a 50-43 lead.
Aldridge handed off to Joel Przybilla for a dunk to put the Blazers ahead 56-45. Houston answered with a 12-2 run, capped by Yao’s jumper, to close to within 58-57.
Celtics 106, Bulls 104 (OT)
BOSTON — Paul Pierce made three straight jump shots in the final 77 seconds of overtime and Boston held on to beat Chicago to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series. Rajon Rondo scored 28 points with 11 assists and eight rebounds, and Kendrick Perkins had 16 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks for the Celtics. It was the third time in five games the teams have needed overtime, a surprising first-round struggle for the defending NBA champions.
Mavericks 106, Spurs 93
SAN ANTONIO — Dirk Nowitzki scored 31 points and Dallas won a playoff series for the first time since 2006, eliminating San Antonio in five games. It is the first time San Antonio has lost in the opening round since 2000, one year after the Spurs won their first of four NBA titles. San Antonio was the third seed, but throughout the series it was Dallas that clearly looked like the higher-slotted team.
Magic 91, 76ers 78
ORLANDO, Fla. — Dwight Howard had 24 points and a career playoff-high 24 rebounds, a dominating performance that powered Orlando to a 3-2 series lead over Philadelphia. Rashard Lewis snapped out of his playoff slump with a series-high 24 points, and Rafer Alston scored 14 for the Magic. It was Howard’s fourth career playoff game with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds.
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