The Houston Rockets ended Portland's home court advantage with a bang, delivering a 116-107 defeat last night at the hands of their sprightly guard, Jalen Green, who bagged 26 points. As reported by KATU, the Rockets, who've been out of the playoff mix, managed to quickly twist the knife into the Trail Blazers' dreary season-ending.

On the bench, Aaron Holiday popped off with 18 points after stepping onto the court, while Amen Thompson, the rookie with moxie, notched up 17 points and 15 rebounds in a bounce-back performance after a dispiriting loss to the Utah Jazz. "I was just trying to go hard, bounce back after last night. I felt the team, we brought the energy today, so it was good," Thompson told KSTP in an interview. Houston's victory came despite playing the second game of a back-to-back, showcasing their ability to still muster up tenacity.

The win wasn't handed easily to Houston as the Blazers, led by Scoot Henderson's 30 points, fought hard to gradually trim a 20-point third-quarter deficit down to an 82-73 gap. "It was a little slow to start, but we had a good second quarter," Rockets coach Ime Udoka acknowledged in a statement to The Seattle Times. However, Cam Whitmore's 3-pointer in the fourth quarter reignited Houston's double-digit lead, letting them cruise to victory.

Playing without Fred VanVleet due to a right hip contusion didn't seem to shake the Rockets. VanVleet has been a powerhouse this season, averaging 17.4 points and a career-high 8.1 assists before the injury. Despite his absence, Thompson stepped up to quickly fill the void. Reflecting on his multifaceted performance, complete with six assists, Thompson has helped the Rockets to decisively close out a season that won't extend into the playoffs but nevertheless ended on a note of determined resurgence.