Portland @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 5, 2019 ) Houston 101, Portland 110

James Harden is scoring at a prolific rate once again and the Houston Rockets are riding that scoring binge to a seven-game winning streak. The Rockets will try to make it eight in a row on Monday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers, who kicked off a six-game trip with a win at San Antonio on Saturday.

Harden hoisted an NBA season-high 41 shots on Saturday at Minnesota and finished with 49 points - his third straight 40-plus performance. Harden's scoring average of 39.5 leads the NBA and he bumped that number to 43 over the last seven contests to help Houston navigate a series of injuries that included Russell Westbrook (rest) and Eric Gordon (knee) sitting out on Saturday. The Trail Blazers have stars in the backcourt as well in CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard, who combined for 54 points in Saturday's triumph. "Super important (win)," Lillard told reporters. "We took a loss to Sacramento then another loss at home. We got another long road trip, four games under .500, it was huge for us to not only get a win on the road to begin the trip, but just to start the trip the right way."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBATV, NBCS Northwest (Portland), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (5-8): Portland is dealing with its own injury issues and made a move to add some scoring by signing veteran Carmelo Anthony, though he is not expected to make his team debut until at least Tuesday. The Trail Blazers got a big game on Saturday from center Hassan Whiteside, who collected 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, 12 rebounds and three blocks in the win. "Hassan played a terrific fourth quarter at both ends," Portland coach Terry Stotts told reporters. "He scored for us and finished around the bucket, he made his free throws, he was a big presence at the rim, deterred a lot of shots. He really made a difference."

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (10-3): Injuries to Gordon, center Clint Capela (concussion) and small forward Danuel House Jr. (back) are opening opportunities for players down the roster and several players are taking advantage. Center Isaiah Hartenstein was brought up from the G League with Capela out and hauled in 16 rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench on Saturday while rookie guard Chris Clemons knocked down five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points. Austin Rivers and Ben McLemore joined the starting lineup and combined for 39 points in the 125-105 win over the Timberwolves to take some pressure off Harden.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Trail Blazers SG Rodney Hood is 15-of-23 from the floor over the last two games, including 7-of-13 from beyond the arc.

2. Harden is averaging 14.6 3-point attempts and connecting at a 33.2-percent clip.

3. Lillard averaged 24.3 points on 50 percent shooting as Portland took two of three from Houston last season.

PREDICTION: Rockets 123, Trail Blazers 121