Keon Johnson scored 25 points Thursday night, including nine in the pivotal third quarter, to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to an 85-77 win over the Houston Rockets at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Blazers trailed 41-36 at halftime before pulling ahead in the third quarter and then held off the Rockets in the fourth.
“That’s just something we work on, executing down the stretch,” Johnson said after the game on NBATV. “We practice it. We preach it. It’s just something we know we have to do and we knew what we had to accomplish.”
Johnson scored 16 points in the second half. He finished the night 8 of 13 from the field and hit on 4 of 8 threes. Johnson did, however, commit six turnovers, but made up for them with key plays to help propel the Blazers to the win.
“This whole year I’ve been learning how to become more of a jump shooter and to have the ball in my hands and create for other players,” Johnson said. “And I feel like I’ve showcased that tonight.”
The victory left the Blazers at 3-1 while the eight-point margin of victory helped give them a shot at earning a spot in Sunday’s championship game.
Portland entered the day as one of 17 teams with 2-1 records but tied for third overall with a plus-8.3 point differential.
When the game concluded, the Blazers were in second place with a point differential of still 8.3 while trailing the Knicks, who sat at 11.8. However, the Blazers defeated the Knicks on Monday to capture the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Seven teams with 2-1 records still had games to play when the Blazers’ game ended. Some of those teams are scheduled to play on Friday.
On Thursday, the Blazers fell behind in the first half by shooting 29.7% from the field and 16.7% on threes. Luckily for Portland, the Rockets struggled nearly as much while shooting 30% from the field and 20% on threes.
Portland got its offense going in the third quarter, which it won 27-13. Johnson led the way with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting. Luka Garza put in six points with three rebounds.
The Blazers led 63-54 entering the final quarter.
Greg Brown III scored nine points with six rebounds. Rookie Jabari Walker came off the bench for nine points and nine rebounds in just under 24 minutes.
Portland shot just 27 of 68 (39.7%) on the evening and 6 of 23 (26.1%) on threes. The Blazers committed 16 turnovers compared to eight for the Rockets.
The Rockets were led with 19 points from rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr., the third-overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. Rookie Tari Eason, the 17th pick, scored 17.
The Blazers will now wait to find out if they qualify for the championship game. Should they not, the Blazers would still play a fifth summer league game this weekend.
— Aaron Fentress | afentress@Oregonian.com | @AaronJFentress (Twitter), @AaronJFentress (Instagram), @AaronFentress (Facebook).
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