Houston Rockets vs Portland Trail Blazers Final Score & Over/Under Result — Jan 9, 2026

Portland's opening salvo set the tone for an under-paced affair. The first quarter exploded to 57 combined points—the game's highest-scoring frame—as both teams traded buckets early. Houston's Kevin Durant led the charge with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists, while Amen Thompson added 24 points and 9 rebounds to keep the Rockets competitive. Portland answered through Toumani Camara's 25 points and Shaedon Sharpe's 20 points with 8 rebounds, but the teams would never recapture that early intensity.

After the opening quarter's burst, the pace collapsed. The second half—a combined 105 points across 24 minutes—bore little resemblance to the 111-point first half, with the fourth quarter bottoming out at just 49 combined points. That dramatic deceleration proved decisive: Portland held on for a 111–105 win, with Deni Avdija chipping in 20 points and 6 assists down the stretch. Reed Sheppard's 20 points off the bench for Houston weren't quite enough to overcome the sluggish finale.

The final combined total of 216 landed squarely under the 222.5 market line, cashing the DAGGER lean. The head-to-head history—ranging from Houston's 140-point outburst in November to a tightly contested 205-point total in early January—suggested volatility, but the actual game's second-half stagnation reflected Portland's recent defensive trend and Houston's scoring regression down the stretch.