HOUSTON -- One night after struggling to contain one of the highest scoring guards in the NBA, the Rockets will get a second chance to shore up their defense when Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard pays a visit to Toyota Center on Thursday night.Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, Thunder guard Russell Westbrook torched Houston (6-5) for 30 points, seven rebounds and nine assists in a 105-103 Thunder victory. Westbrook entered the game second in the NBA in scoring (32 points per game) and assists (9.9), and pacing the NBA in usage rate at 41.4 percent.Lillard brings similar credentials, ranking fifth in scoring (29.8 points) and eighth in usage rate at 32.6 percent. But for all the success Westbrook had on Wednesday night and the potential for a similar eruption when they play host to Portland (7-5), the Rockets stumbled against the Thunder because their offense collapsed in the fourth quarter again.Houston has struggled with pace, scoring and shooting percentage in the fourth quarter this season and those issues were at the forefront of their loss to Oklahoma City. The Rockets posted just 13 points in the final period and were held scoreless between a Clint Capela dunk with 6:26 remaining and an Eric Gordon 3-pointer just prior to the buzzer. They missed nine consecutive shots during that stretch, adding to what has been a prevailing problem for an offense that oftentimes scores at will.We have that problem a little bit, Rockets coach Mike DAntoni said of holding the ball too long down the stretch of close games. I thought we got good shots. It might not have been your classic move the ball, move the ball, move the ball but I thought we had some looks. The 3s they had looks at we had them and they made them and we missed them. Sometimes it just comes down to youve got to make shots and we just didnt do it.The Trail Blazers issues are defense and rebounding. They entered Wednesday 29th in scoring defense (111.2 points per game) and 27th in defensive rating. The Bulls ravaged Portland on Tuesday night while rolling to a 113-88 victory at Moda Center, finishing plus-18 on the glass. Chicago managed 19 offensive boards, par for the course with Portland ranking 29th in defensive rebounding rate at 72.3 percent.Our defensive rebounding is a concern, Portland coach Terry Stotts said. Its addressed and weve got to get better and focus on it.Similar to the Rockets, Portland leans on offensive might to carry the weight most nights. The Trail Blazers trailed 13-2 before recording their first basket with 6:48 left in the first quarter against the Bulls and were down 17 when someone other than C.J. McCollum scored a basket.Yet for all the concerns over defense and rebounding, the NBA remains a make-or-miss league. When the Rockets and Portland make shots, particularly from the perimeter, they are difficult for any defense to slow. When they dont, whether in the first or fourth quarter, problems arise.Were not a paint team. We rely on 3s, we rely on penetration, Stotts said. When youre struggling offensively in the first quarter there are going to be a lot of bloated numbers across the board.Fake Nike NBA Jerseys . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Wholesale Fake NBA Jerseys . Los Angeles star goalie survived those perilous gymnastics with no problem, and he eventually backstopped the Kings to a skid-snapping win. 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In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month.For a guy who started the year with his barn blowing down, Peter Miller has done okay.Early last January, on a quiet weekday afternoon, Millers main barn at the San Luis Rey Downs Training Center was hit with what meteorologists termed a microburst that razed half the roof, dismantled stalls, and sent the stable crew scrambling to soothe the jangled nerves of the four-legged residents. Its easier to say the place was trashed by a tornado, so lets go with that.Thankfully, no horses were harmed, but the barn was awash, including Millers freshly decorated office. The operation moved to the barn next door, with auxiliary stalls provided just up the road, and like all racetrackers faced with adversity, they coped.As one of a handful of trainers who appreciates irony, Miller decided the twister attack was natures way of acknowledging his best year ever in 2015, when his stable earnings of more than $5.8 million were good for 14th in the national standings. Miller was conservative in the wake of the big blow, concerned there might be lingering effects from the trauma, but by the time Del Mar came around in July, the barn was hitting on all cylinders.After finishing second to Phil DAmato during the summer meet, Miller took the fall title at Santa Anita and then went nuts at the short Del Mar fall session, winning with 16 of 46 starters, doubling the next name on the list. He knows the odds of that happening again anytime soon are somewhere between slim and zip.That was fun, Miller said. But lets be honest, it was ridiculous.If there is any of the Del Mar fall magic left over, Miller would like to deploy it on Saturday in the $300,000 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity. He will be running the recent maiden winner Bobby Abu Dhabi, a son of Macho Uno purchased last April in Ocala, Fla., for Gary Hartunians Rockingham Ranch. The price was $335,000.Millers colt is surrounded in the Futurity by two from the Doug ONeill stable, led by Oak Tree Juvenile winner Dangerfield, and two from Bob Baffert, including the favored Mastery, the winner of the Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar. Baffert is going for his third straight running of the race since it was rescued from the debris of the Hollywood Park closing, while Miller sports a Futurity win from 2010, when Comma to the Top braved a bad track.Conditions should be benign on Saturday, when the Los Alamitos program also features the $300,000 Starlet Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, matching Del Mar Debutante winner Union Strike and Breeders Cup Juvenile Fillies third-place finisher American Gal. For those who sstill can handle a doubleheader, that same evening the track will present the $600,000 Champion of Champions for the cream of the Quarter Horse sport.ddddddddddddAs far as running the inexperienced Bobby Abu Dhabi, Miller sees no reason to be intimidated by a Futurity history that includes such winners as Roving Boy, Point Given, A.P. Indy, Snow Chief, Lookin At Lucky, and Shared Belief.Certainly for a Grade 1 and $300,000, its a very modest field, basically a non-winners- other-than except for Mastery, Miller said. It looks like all but one of the runners ran on Nov. 19, so Im sure everyone would like more than three weeks between races.Bobby Abu Dhabi -- named for an acquaintance of Hartunians from a trip to the United Arab Emirates -- won a 6-1/2-furlong maiden race the same day Mastery took the seven-furlong Bob Hope, while Dangerfield was running third in the Delta Downs Jackpot and Irap was finishing fourth in a maiden event on the Del Mar turf. For those who care, Masterys speed figures from his two races dominate the others in the field.I was a little concerned he might have run a little too fast the first time out, Miller said of Bobby Abu Dhabi. I was glad to see he got a nice mid-range 75 Beyer. Of course, thats the million-dollar question -- are they doing it right and running within themselves, or are they already at their top? Weve loved our colt from the beginning, so Im going to believe theres a lot more ahead for him.Miller shipped Bobby Abu Dhabi from San Luis Rey to Los Alamitos last Sunday for a five-furlong work in 59 seconds flat. None of the others in the field shows a work or a race over the track.Its a different configuration with a long stretch, Miller noted. We figured why not get him up there and get the lay of the land? And he worked beautifully. He came right back to San Luis Rey after the work.Thats no big deal. Training at San Luis Rey, Millers runners are always on the van going somewhere. Even during the meets at nearby Del Mar, the trainer prefers the calm and quiet of the training center to the hustle and bustle of a host track.For my horses, theyre all away games, he said.In the meantime, Miller is still waiting for San Luis Rey management to rebuild his old barn. He kind of misses it, and it is -- or was -- the first barn anyone saw when visiting the training center.For now, its kind of a reminder, Miller said. In this game, you better be able to survive anything. ' ' '