Trail Blazers still in hunt

PORTLAND, ORE —  . -- Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge each scored 25 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers remained in the playoffs with an 88-77 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night.

The Rockets, who have not advanced out of the first round of the playoffs in six tries since 1997, hold a 3-2 advantage in the series going into Thursday night’s game back in Houston.

Luis Scola led the Rockets with 21 points. Yao Ming had 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Roy, a two-time All-Star and Portland’s leading scorer, missed practice Monday because of flu-like symptoms, and Aldridge didn’t practice because of a sore right elbow. Both started Tuesday night.

Houston trailed until the fourth quarter, when Yao and Von Wafer made consecutive jumpers to put the Rockets ahead, 68-64.

The Trail Blazers tied it at 68-68, then Greg Oden had another two free throws to give Portland back the lead.

Travis Outlaw and Roy padded it with a pair of three-pointers to make it 77-68 with 5:21 to go.

After Roy added a running jumper, the Rose Garden fans were on their feet, with one fan raising a sign that read “Bring down the Rockets!”

Aaron Brooks made a running jumper to close the Rockets to 80-75, but it was as close as Houston would come.

Portland went on a 17-4 run in the first quarter, taking a 23-13 lead on Aldridge’s 18-footer. But Houston’s Scola made seven of nine shots from the field and ended the quarter with 15 points, and the Rockets cut the deficit to 29-26 to start the second quarter.

The Blazers built a 46-36 lead late in the first half, but the Rockets closed within 48-43 on Yao’s dunk.

Roy finished out the half with a driving layup to give Portland a 50-43 lead.

Aldridge handed off to Joel Przybilla for a dunk to put the Blazers ahead 56-45. Houston answered with a 12-2 run, capped by Yao’s jumper, to close to within 58-57.

Brooks’ pull-up three-pointer tied it at 60 and Houston finally pulled ahead on Yao’s turnaround jumper that made it 66-64 early in fourth.

The Trail Blazers have not been to the playoffs since 2003.