Aldridge drops 43 on Rockets to seal back-to-back road wins to start the series.
The NBA playoffs continued on Wednesday night, and the Portland Trail Blazers were able to take a two-game lead over the Houston Rockets to leave their rivals in all kinds of trouble.
LaMarcus Aldridge continued his dominance after posting up 46 points in Game 1, as he scored 43 points to lift the Blazers to victory and put them in a strong position as the series moves to Portland.
Nevertheless, Aldridge was keen to emphasise that his team must stay humble and hungry in order to complete the job, as despite their obvious struggles thus far, Houston remain a dangerous team.
The All-Star became the first player with consecutive games of 43 points or more in the playoffs since Tracy McGrady did it in April 2003, and while Damian Lillard played a key role, the point guard was keen to point out that his team-mate is playing MVP level basketball again.
Meanwhile, Dwight Howard appeared unstoppable after scoring 25 in the first half, but managed just seven in the second while James Harden fouled out and was unable to inspire his team down the stretch.
Staying in the Lone Star state, the Dallas Mavericks bounced back from their loss in the opener against the San Antonio Spurs by routing the Western Conference top seed in Game 2.
In a balanced effort from the Mavs who used an aggressive effort on both ends of the court, Monta Ellis scored 21 points, Shawn Marion added 20 points while Dirk Nowitzki had 16.
Manu Ginobili (27), Tony Parker (12) and Tim Duncan (11) weren’t enough to save the Spurs who had no other player score more than seven points, while they also committed 24 turnovers.
Ginobili slammed the soft defense from his team and admitted “having such a poor performance in the playoffs bothers me”, as the Spurs must now regroup and find a win in Dallas.
Over in the Eastern Conference, LeBron James had 32 points and eight assists while Chris Bosh scored 20 points as the Miami Heat wasted two big leads before seeing off the Charlotte Bobcats.
James insisted that they can play much better than they did on Wednesday, but the win puts them in a 2-0 lead while the Bobcats continue to try and get as much production from Al Jefferson as possible.
Jefferson revealed that he felt his plantar fascia strain worsen during the game but battled through, however his limitations will likely see Charlotte fail to make a real impact in this series.
NBA Results:
Charlotte Bobcats 97-101 Miami Heat
Dallas Mavericks 113-92 San Antonio Spurs
Portland Trail Blazers 112-105 Houston Rockets
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