HOUSTON -- Point guard Damian Lillard was busy lauding the Portland Trail Blazers' stout defense before their strong passing was brought to his attention, at which time Lillard carved out some time to praise that too.

Lillard recorded his third consecutive double-double and the Trail Blazers turned defensive might and selflessness offensively into a 96-79 throttling of the Houston Rockets on Saturday at Toyota Center.

Portland (25-27) won for the sixth time in seven games and improved to 10-3 since Jan. 10.

Lillard paired 21 points with 10 assists while his backcourt mate CJ McCollum added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Blazers, who closed to within one game of the Rockets (27-26) in the loss column in the Western Conference.

The Rockets averaged 116 points per game over their three previous contests before the Blazers stifled them completely. Portland recorded 12 assists on 19 first-half field goals en route to a 55-36 halftime lead.

"I was really happy with it," Lillard said of the passing. "We won five in a row and the last game we lost to a really good team (Toronto) and we bounced back tonight because of the way we moved the ball and the way we defended."

Houston guard James Harden scored a game-high 33 points, shot 15 of 18 at the free-throw line, and snared eight rebounds. He also committed 10 of the Rockets' 23 turnovers, which resulted in 30 Portland points.

Center Dwight Howard posted a double-double (17 points, 14 rebounds) for Houston, which led only once (5-3 early in the first quarter) and trailed by as many as 32. Harden and Howard shot a combined 13 for 28 from the floor; the other starters went 7 for 29.

The Rockets, who missed 29 of 36 3-pointers, were so dreadful offensively that no one outside of Harden, Howard and forward Trevor Ariza scored until guard Patrick Beverley converted a driving layup with 2:01 remaining in the first half.

Houston's bench remained scoreless until reserve guard Marcus Thornton made a layup with 11:18 left. He became just the fifth Rockets player to score.

"It was our start," Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said.

"It's an individual thing. Each guy has a responsibility to himself and his teammates to perform a duty. You've got to prepare yourself to come out and play, and the first two halves of these past two games we haven't done it. So we'll get to the bottom of it and we'll figure it out."

The Blazers' bench outscored the Rockets' 24-12, with Houston recording all of its bench points during extended garbage time.

Guard Gerald Henderson had 16 points to pace the Portland bench. While the Blazers turned the Rockets into a one-man gang, their balanced scoring served them well while running out to that comfortable advantage. Six Blazers scored in double figures, including all five starters.

"Dame and CJ are our leading scorers but we're going to need contributions from everybody," Henderson said. "We have a talented offensive team, but I think it mostly can show when we pass the ball well, and tonight I think we did a good job of that."

Portland shot 52.4 percent from the field (11 of 21) in the first quarter but ran away from Houston early in the second, turning a 13-2 spurt into a 42-25 lead with 8:44 to play in the half. The Rockets responded with just two more field goals before Beverley made the first of his two baskets, crumbling under a rash of turnovers (six in the second quarter) and missed shots (4 of 19 in the period) as Portland extended its lead to 55-34 on a layup from forward Maurice Harkless with 40.2 seconds left.

Harkless added 14 points and six rebounds. Portland finished with a plus-11 rebounding advantage, securing 20 offensive boards and 18 second-chance points.

"We've got to do a better job of starting games," Howard said. "Tonight and playing against Phoenix (on Thursday), we started off slow. Against Phoenix we got away with it, but tonight they just kept scoring down low. We have to do a better job."

NOTES: Rockets F Terrence Jones is set to begin concussion protocol after being involved in an auto accident on Wednesday. Jones did not play Thursday night in Phoenix, was released from the hospital on Friday, and is out indefinitely. ... Trail Blazers F Noah Vonleh missed his second consecutive game with a left ankle sprain. ... Before committing 10 turnovers Saturday, Rockets G James Harden has steadily improved his turnover rate in recent weeks, particularly in the previous eight games following the acquisition of F Josh Smith. Before Saturday, Harden averaged 2.9 turnovers per game after averaging 4.7 turnovers prior to Smith's arrival.