Houston kept its playoff hopes alive on Wednesday. After playing the Trail Blazers tight all night, it was James Harden who helped the Rockets push past Portland, 108-98, to grab a game at home.
Rockets vs. Trail Blazers, NBA playoffs 2014: Time, TV schedule, radio and more
Game 6 is in Rip City, where pressure is on the Blazers to close out the Houston Rockets on Friday night.
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Now, the 3-2 series returns to Portland, where the Rockets were able to steal Game 3. They'll need to be more consistent than they were on Wednesday night, when it took 21 points by Jeremy Lin and a bevy of offensive rebounds just for Houston to stay afloat.
Harden has had a particularly difficult series. The Rockets star guard is averaging 25.4 points per game, but is shooting just 34.7 percent from the field and is jacking up three-pointers at an alarming rate.
Houston has done an incredible job on LaMarcus Aldridge since he went off in Games 1 and 2. After scoring a combined 89 points in the first two games, Portland's All-Star power forward has been limited to just 60 points over the last three games on a combined 40 percent shooting.
But the Rockets still aren’t in control of this series. The Trail Blazers have been good at home all year, and if they are able to make some adjustments to stop Lin or get Aldridge going on the block, they could easily wrap up their first playoff series in 14 years.
Game time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Location: Moda Center, Portland
TV: ESPN
Announcers: Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown, Heather Cox
Local: KGW, CSN Houston
Radio: KTRH 740 AM, Fox Sports Radio 620
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