The Portland Trail Blazers take on the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Friday night.

The Trail Blazers (20-28) come into Friday's contest wielding a short-handed squad and having three of their last five, including two straight. Their most recent stumble unfolded Wednesday night in the form of a 132-112 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Anfernee Simons led the way with 23 points, complementing them with seven assists and two rebounds. CJ McCollum totaled 20 points, six assists, four rebounds and one steal. Norman Powell supplied 19 points, nine rebounds, one assist and one steal. Jusuf Nurkic registered 18 points, eight boards, three assists and one steal.

The Trail Blazers are expected to remain without Damian Lillard (abdominal), Larry Nance (knee) and Cody Zeller (knee) for Friday's contest. Dennis Smith (ankle), Nassir Little (shoulder) and Robert Covington (knee) will likely be listed as game-time decisions.

The Rockets (14-34) continue to frequently play hard with very few victories to show for it, and they'll also enter Friday's contest with three losses in the last five games. Additionally, their most recent stumble was a lopsided one, as they fell to the San Antonio Spurs by a 134-104 score Tuesday night. Kevin Porter paced the Rockets with 16 points, adding nine assists and five rebounds. Christian Wood managed 15 points and seven rebounds. Jae'Sean Tate and Alperen Sengun compiled 14 points each while recording six and five rebounds, respectively. Kenyon Martin, Jr. and Josh Christopher mustered matching 13-point, two-steal tallies while pulling down eight and two rebounds, respectively.

The Rockets will come into Friday's game without any short-term injuries to report.

Friday's game marks the second of four meetings between the teams this season. The Trail Blazers own a 1-0 series lead, having notched a 104-92 win Nov. 12.