Chauncey Billups called timeout with 5:29 remaining in Friday's game, his team at real risk of squandering what seemed like an insurmountable lead after Jalen Green's step-back three pulled the Houston Rockets within six. The Portland Trail Blazers hadn't encountered much trouble running roughshod over the Western Conference's worst team, but some ugly turnovers and careless defense allowed Houston to make what should've been a runaway victory competitive late.

Good thing Billups knew exactly how to dash the Rockets' dreams of an upset.

C.J. McCollum and Anfernee Simons mercilessly targeted Garrison Mathews in pick-and-roll shortly after the timeout, putting Houston away for good with a series of jumpers, driving finishes and extra passes en route to a 125-110 Portland win.

“We just did a good job of finding what we wanted at the end and attacking it,” Billups said.

The Blazers' starting backcourt accounted for all their team's 17 points in the game's last five minutes, including three straight jumpers by McCollum—two from virtually the same spot on the floor at the left elbow extended, Matthews powerless to stop him.

“That's how I eat,” McCollum, a new father, joked of isolation basketball. “That's how I feed little Jacobi. Gotta figure out ways to provide, and that's what I do.”

He scored 26 points while hitting half his shots and canning four triples, also dishing out five assists. Simons led Portland with 27 points and six dimes, effortlessly scoring from all over the floor in one of his most efficient games of the month.

Jusuf Nurkic was dominant on the interior, abusing smaller defenders on the block in single coverage and finding the open man when the Rockets sent double-teams his way, initiating several sequences of quick-hitting ball movement that ended in Portland triples. He had 25 points and 13 rebounds altogether, shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 9-of-11 at the line.

The Blazers shot 56.8% overall—their best mark this season—and 17-of-39 from three-point range, exploiting Houston's porous defense at will in the halfcourt.

“I love that we're not playing like it's my-turn, your-turn basketball,” Billups said. “We play. We throw the ball to whoever the play is for that time and however the defense actually plays us, we take that shot. And that's beautiful for us to be playing like that. We've talked about that all year long.”

Portland, playing without not just Damian Lillard, Larry Nance Jr. and Cody Zeller but also Nassir Little and CJ Elleby, moves to 21-28, still tenth-place in the Western Conference.