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PORTLAND, Oregon (Ticker) -- Against his former team, "The Wizard" conjured up his best game in nearly four years. Walt Williams scored a season-high 31 points, helping the Houston Rockets end a slump with a 94-87 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Known as "The Wizard" since his college days at Maryland, Williams has not been displaying much magic lately. The 31-year-old swingman came in averaging 7.0 points per game as a reserve, eclipsing 20 points just once. Williams scored 15 points in the second quarter, when Houston opened a 15-point lead. He added another 10 in the third period, when the Rockets turned back a rally by the Trail Blazers and regained the lead for good. "Walter was phenomenal," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "He came in and played good." Williams made 12-of-20 shots, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range. It was his first 30-point game since he scored 39 for Toronto against Philadelphia on December 10, 1997. The Raptors traded him to Portland later that season. "I'm not going to lie -- it's a little bit more fun because I know a lot of those guys on the team," Williams said. "I'm still good friends with a lot of those guys and keep in contact." Two players have scored 30 points against Portland this season. The first was Steve Smith, who was traded by the Blazers to the San Antonio Spurs in the offseason. "We went in worrying about Steve Francis and then this guy goes 12-for-20," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "I tell you, the next guy we see who played here before I got here, I want to say I had nothing to do with it." Glen Rice scored 14 points and Francis added 12 for the Rockets, who had lost four of their last five games. Bonzi Wells scored 28 points for Portland, which was playing at home for the first time since returning from a 3-2 road trip. Portland again was without point forward Scottie Pippen, who went on the injured list with a bruised right knee earlier in the day. "They killed us," Wells said. "And our ex-Blazer comes out and pounds us. Walt kept hitting threes." Williams made 6-of-7 shots in the second quarter, including three 3-pointers. He scored seven points in an 18-6 run that gave Houston a 40-25 lead with 5:02 left before halftime. "It was a good night for me," Williams said. "Those guys were penetrating a lot and finding me open." "He just knows he's a good jump shooter," Blazers guard Derek Anderson said. Portland got within 46-39 at halftime and used a 7-0 run to take a 60-59 lead with 4:50 left in the third quarter. Williams answered with a jumper and 3-pointer that gave Houston the lead for good. The Rockets led 74-65 entering the final period and the Blazers got within five points twice. On both occasions, they had a chance to get closer but botched transition possessions. "I just have to give guys my credit for scrapping and hanging tough," Tomjanovich said. "There were a couple times they made runs, but it never did get down to a one-possession game." Kevin Willis added 11 points off the bench for the Rockets, who shot 48 percent (35-of-73) and hit 10-of-23 3-pointers. Francis had nine rebounds and six assists. Anderson scored 12 points and Rasheed Wallace added 10 and 10 rebounds for the Blazers, who shot 43 percent (32-of-74) but made just 1-of-8 from the arc.
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