PORTLAND — Houston’s Troy Daniels almost did it again.
Nicolas Batum thought: “Not again. I’m too tired to go into another overtime.”
Daniels hit three free-throws after being fouled with 8.9 seconds left to cut Portland’s lead to one in overtime.
Thankfully for the Trail Blazers, his heroism stopped there as the Blazers took a commanding 3-1 win at the Moda Center on Sunday night.
But behind four 20-point scorers, defense from Wesley Matthews and some big shots from Mo Williams on a 3-for-11 night, Portland took a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first round series.
Portland won Game 4 123-120 after the Rockets held them at bay for much of the game with a late rally in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Williams’ three-pointer with 18.2 seconds left to put Portland up 105-104 after a crazy scramble of a play, similar to the play that got Daniels an open 3 to win Game 3 for Houston.
After Batum tried to recount what happened on the play that got Williams the look, he admitted that for part of it he didn’t know what happened.
“I don’t know, Dame dives. That’s us,” Batum said. “That was our team all season. We don’t give up. Even if we are down we never die. Like RoLo says every time, we never die like the Goonies never die.”
Early in Game 4, Chandler Parsons found his footing once again this series.
Parsons scored 19 first half points, carrying the Rockets to a big advantage in the first half. Behind Parsons, the Rockets had one of their better offensive halves of the series.
Still, the Rockets were dominating the Blazers on the glass. Portland has struggled all series protecting the defensive glass, and the struggles carried over into Game 4.
With the Rockets scheming hard to take away LaMarcus Aldridge, the Blazers tried to find their offense elsewhere. It didn’t work early as they struggled from the three-point line.
In the third quarter of Game 4, the Blazers made a concerted effort to get Aldridge more involved. The Rockets continued to send double-teams on occasion but it did not matter too much to Aldridge. After scoring 10 points in the first half, he scored 13 in the third quarter.
Batum gave the Blazers their first lead since 6-5 at the 4:31 mark of the fourth quarter with a pull-up three-pointer, saying players on the team have told him that there are times he “has to take over.”
James Harden awoke from his shooting slumber in Game 4, finding the efficient scoring that has made him an MVP candidate for the last two seasons.
Thanks to Parsons finally getting going, Harden was able to pick his spots better rather than in the first three games.
Harden went 9 of 21 from the field, scoring 28 points and saving his best for the second half.
The Blazers, it turns out, did as well.
Robin Lopez finally found rebounds in his hands, grabbing (five after three quarters) in the fourth quarter and Nicolas Batum was on the attack.
So, too, was Damian Lillard who hit a buzzer-beating three from the corner just before the 4th quarter began.
Williams missed a chance to send the game to overtime on the final shot of regulation.
Two free-throws from Lillard with 17 seconds left in overtime gave Portland a
121-117 lead. Then Daniels was inexplicably fouled on a three-point attempt by Dorell Wright with 8.9 seconds left and Daniels hit all three.
Williams made a pair of free throws, and then Matthews got the steal to seal the game.
