LOS ANGELES – The first contest of the two-game set between the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers 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 waved off, giving Portland a dramatic 103-102 victory.

Kevin Durant missed a jumper with 0.8sec 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 to review the play.

And the replays displayed 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 didn’t mince words on the game-deciding call.

“It was probably on his fingertip, as close as could be,” Udoka said. “You mess around for 3½ 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 trouble.

“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 3 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 3½ 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, who scored a team-high 30 points, hit the winning shot with 11.5sec left as the Indiana Pacers beat hosts Charlotte Hornets 114-112 at Spectrum Center.

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 his 1,000th career coaching victory.

In Minneapolis, Julius Randle scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Minnesota Timberwolves held on for 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 Oklahoma City Thunder (31-7).

The Cavaliers are eighth in the East on 21-18, one spot behind Miami Heat (20-17), whose match against Chicago Bulls was postponed at the 11th hour because of an unplayable court 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. REUTERS

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