Trail Blazers 112, Rockets 105: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 43 points in his second consecutive monumental performance as visiting Portland knocked off Houston to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference series.

Aldridge was 18-of-28 from the field while following up a franchise playoff-record 46-point performance in Game 1 and joined Michael Jordan and Tracy McGrady as the only players in NBA history to score 40-plus points on the road in Games 1 and 2 of a playoff series. Damian Lillard had 18 points and 11 assists, Dorell Wright scored 15 points and Mo Williams added 13 for the Trail Blazers, who host Friday’s Game 3.

Dwight Howard had 32 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Rockets but had just seven points in the second half. James Harden scored 18 points but was 6-of-19 from the field and Chandler Parsons added 15 points.

The Trail Blazers possessed a 102-93 lead on Aldridge’s putback with 2:59 remaining before Houston cut its deficit to four on Harden’s driving hoop with 1:07 to play. A 3-pointer by Harden pulled the Rockets within 106-103 with 30.7 seconds left but Lillard hit two free throws, Harden was called for an offensive foul and Williams hit two free throws to make it a seven-point margin with 15 seconds to go.

Howard had 19 first-quarter points as Houston opened up a 31-23 lead and the score was knotted at 53 at halftime with Howard having 25 points and Aldridge countering with 23. The Trail Blazers led by nine early in the third, the Rockets recovered to briefly take the lead and Portland closed strong to take an 83-77 lead into the final stanza.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Aldridge is averaging 44.5 points on 35-of-59 shooting in the first two games. … Harden is just 14-of-47 shooting in the series, including 5-of-19 from 3-point range. … The Rockets held an astounding 68-30 edge in points in the paint but went 3-of-16 from 3-point range.