"Saying that he has seen "slippage" in the Trail Blazers, coach Nate McMillan used the last two days to take his reeling team "Back to the basics."

It might be time to go back to the drawing board.

The Blazers suffered one of their most head-scratching defeats Wednesday night, falling 103-96 to the Houston Rockets before 20,350 at the Rose Garden.

One game after losing an overtime heartbreaker to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Blazers started slow, mounted a furious rally midway through and then -- surprise! -- crumbled late. This is hardly the first time such an event has occurred, but it's been a rarity at home, where the Blazers (14-12) suffered just their third loss of the season. "