Kevin Durant on cusp of milestone as Houston Rockets eye NBA victory against Portland Trail Blazers

LOS ANGELES – The first contest of the two-game set between the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers in the National Basketball Association (NBA) featured a wild ending. The rematch on Jan 9 (Jan 10 morning, Singapore time) will likely include a memorable milestone.

The Trail Blazers will look to complete the sweep of the Rockets two nights after a tip-in by Houston’s Tari Eason as time expired was waived off, giving Portland a dramatic 103-102 victory on Jan 7.

Kevin Durant missed a jumper with 2.5sec remaining and Eason made a stellar play to be in position to tap the rebound into the net.

But while the Rockets started to celebrate, the officiating crew went to the monitor for replays, which showed that the ball was on Eason’s fingertips when the red light on the backboard came on.

“It felt like we won the game,” Eason said. “We didn’t but it felt like it. I was excited because we fought through the adversity. I know we’re going to bounce back and be a better team on Friday.”

Trail Blazers star Deni Avdija scored 41 points – the second most of his career as they won their fourth straight game – and he initially felt that bad feeling in his stomach.

“Roller coaster, emotional roller coaster,” Avdija said. “Sometimes you’ve got to win ugly... We were able to get the win, we stayed together, we stayed composed and we beat a very, very good team. We’ve got to come back and do it again.”

Rockets coach Ime Udoka did not mince his words on the game-deciding call.

“It was probably on his fingertip, as close as could be,” Udoka said. “You mess around for three-and-a-half quarters, the basketball gods will be against you at times.”

Durant is in line for a memorable outing from an individual standpoint.

The 37-year-old has topped 20 points in 12 straight appearances and needs just 15 points to pass legendary Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and move into seventh place on the all-time scoring list.

He said they need to shoot better in the rematch.

“We generated good looks,” Durant said after Houston lost for the second time in seven games. “If you look at the stat sheet, everything else was better (except shooting).”

The Rockets held a commanding 57-38 rebounding advantage, including 24 offensive boards, but the shooting was worrying.

“We decided to play the last half of the fourth quarter,” Udoka said of a game the Rockets never led in the second half. “You’re shooting 37 per cent from the field, 22 per cent from three and 69 per cent from the free-throw line.

“If you make shots, it’s a different game, but our defensive discipline and following the game plan, it was the worst night... We were really poor for three-and-a-half quarters.”

Avdija operated at will on Jan 7 and made 13 of 24 from the field – two of nine from three-point range – and 13 of 15 from the free-throw line.

He has inserted his name into the All-Star discussion with a stellar season that includes averages of 26.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.0 assists.

“He’s going to be a star. He’s a star now,” Durant said. “His biggest threat is getting downhill to the free-throw line. I think that is opening up his game.”

In NBA action on Jan 8, Pascal Siakam scored a team-high 30 points and hit a late shot to give the Indiana Pacers the lead with 11.5sec left, as they held on to beat the hosts Charlotte Hornets 114-112.

In the process, last season’s NBA finalists, who are bottom of the Eastern Conference on 7-31, snapped a 13-game losing streak and gave coach Rick Carlisle the 1,000th victory of his coaching career.

In Minneapolis, Julius Randle scored 28 points with 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Minnesota Timberwolves claimed a 131-122 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After notching their fourth consecutive win, Minnesota (25-13) are fourth in the Western Conference, which is led by the Oklahoma City Thunder (31-7).

The Cavaliers are eighth in the East on 21-18, one spot behind the Miami Heat (20-17), whose match against the Chicago Bulls was postponed at the 11th hour because of court conditions at the United Center “due to moisture on the floor rendering the court unplayable”.

The United Center is also home to the Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey team, who played at the venue on Jan 7 and have another fixture at the arena two days later.

Separately, Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown said players should be allowed to build equity alongside NBA franchise owners, arguing that the league’s labour rules lag far behind the wealth created by the sport.

Brown, who is also vice-president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), compared NBA players to executives at major corporations, saying employees at companies such as Apple or Nike often receive equity for years of service. Professional athletes, he argued, should be viewed similarly.

“The sweat equity that you put in, you get compensated for doing your job, but you don’t get compensated for the growth. In major corporations and companies, you do,” said Brown in an interview with Bloomberg News on Jan 8.

“I think players should be able to invest alongside ownership groups,” added the four-time NBA All-Star, Finals MVP, entrepreneur and philanthropist.

The NBPA and team owners reached their most recent collective bargaining agreement in 2023, a deal that runs through the 2029-30 season.

While it allows players to hold limited stakes in publicly traded companies tied to NBA ownership interests, it largely bars direct investment in teams, whose values have soared into the billions. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG