HOUSTON — LaMarcus Aldridge had just fouled out late in overtime after scoring a career-high and franchise playoff-record 46 points when he went to Portland teammate Damian Lillard with a simple message.
“I said: ‘Take it over,’ ” Aldridge said.
Lillard did just that, finishing with 31 points and making the go-ahead free throws in overtime to lift the Trail Blazers to a 122-120 victory over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night in a thrilling first-round series opener.
Aldridge fouled out with about a minute left in overtime and Lillard, who was making his playoff debut, scored Portland’s next five points and put the Trail Blazers on top by one point with a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left.
“When you’ve got your best player playing like that, it fires you up,” Lillard said. “When he went out of the game, I felt like our team … had to have L.A’s back and come through for him.”
Joel Freeland made one of two free throws seconds after Lillard’s free throws to give the Blazers the win in their first trip to the postseason since 2011.
Game 2 is Wednesday night in Houston.
Aldridge, who was playing in his home state, also had 18 rebounds and two blocks.
“He’s been a handful for us all year long,” Houston coach Kevin McHale said. “We just didn’t have any answers for him.”
James Harden and Dwight Howard each scored 27 points for Houston, and Howard grabbed 15 rebounds.
Houston could have tied it, but Harden missed a short jump shot at the buzzer. He had missed a 3-pointer on Houston’s second-to-last possession.
“I’ve got to play better,” Harden said. “I didn’t shoot the ball well … I’ve got to shake it off, but it will be better in Game 2.”
It was a physical game with the teams combining for 79 free throws.
A three-point play by Lillard gave Portland a one-point lead with 44.5 seconds remaining. Francisco Garcia and Howard both made one of two free throws after that to give Houston a 120-119 lead 20 seconds later.
Aldridge fouled out when he knocked Patrick Beverley to the floor setting a pick with 1:04 left in overtime. An emotional Aldridge continued to yell at the referees even after he went to the bench.
“This is one of those games where I could show my team that I wanted to lead,” Aldridge said.
Beverley re-injured his right knee on the play where Aldridge fouled out and McHale said the Rockets would know more about the guard’s status after an MRI exam on Monday. Beverley missed eight games late in the season because of a torn meniscus in that knee.
A dunk by Robin Lopez gave Portland a 116-114 lead before he fouled out seconds later. Howard made both free throws to tie it.
Houston scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, with the first four from Howard, to make it 86-73. But Portland used a 10-0 run, with the help of the Hack-A-Howard defense of intentionally fouling the center, to tie it at 98 with 2:46 remaining. Howard missed four straight free throws as Portland cut the deficit.
A 3-pointer by Lillard had tied it at 104-all before Harden put Houston up with two free throws. Aldridge’s tip-in with 2.9 seconds left tied it at 106. Houston had a chance to win it in regulation, but Harden’s shot was off.
Howard and Jeremy Lin both made three-point plays to start overtime before Aldridge and Nicolas Batum hit consecutive 3s to tie it back up.
Portland trailed by 11 when it used a 9-2 spurt to get within 73-69 with about two minutes left in the third quarter. Aldridge started the run with four points and Wesley Matthews finished it off by scoring the last five and capping it with dunk on a fast break.
The Rockets had a four-point lead early in the third quarter when Harden heated up, scoring 10 points of a 12-3 run that extended Houston’s advantage to 66-53 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the period.
