Outlaw sparks Blazers over Yao-less Rockets, 96-87

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-29 09:19

PORTLAND: Greg Oden followed his orders, putting defense and rebounding first.

Oden scored just two points, a tip with 58 seconds left, but had 12 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Portland Trail Blazers in a 96-87 season-opening victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

"You definitely want a lot more points," Oden said. "But I think I did a lot of good things that don't show up on the scoreboard or in the stats."

Reserve Travis Outlaw scored 23 points and Brandon Roy added 20 points and five assists for the Blazers. Portland hit 20 of 22 free throws and outrebounded Houston 51-33.

Aaron Brooks had 19 points for the Rockets, who defeated Portland in six games this past spring in the first round of the playoffs.

That was a much different Houston team, though. Rockets center Yao Ming is out for the season after offseason foot surgery, and Ron Artest - who pestered the Blazers - left for the Lakers as a free agent.

Houston also remain without former All-Star Tracy McGrady, who had microfracture surgery on his left knee and isn't expected to return until midseason.

The absence of Yao presented matchup problems for the Rockets in trying to defend the 7-foot Oden. Houston started 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes at center.

Oden, who was the No 1 draft pick in 2007 but missed his rookie season because of microfracture surgery on his knee, played off the bench for most of last season but wrested the starting job away from Joel Przybilla this fall.

The emphasis for Oden - and the rest of the Blazers - was defense, according to the directive from coach Nate McMillan. Even though Oden had five fouls late in the game, he kept reaching for blocks.

"That's the commitment, getting involved in the game on the defensive end of the floor, not the offensive end of the floor. Offensive players want to see that ball go in the basket before they get into the game," McMillan said. "We want to change that thought process this year and get into the game on the defensive end of the floor. I thought our guys did that."