by By JONATHAN FEIGEN, houston chronicle , The Houston Chronicle

Record: 2-1.

Monday: at Jazz, 8 p.m.

TV/radio: FSH; 610 AM and 850 AM (Spanish).

For all that has changed, this has not. But then, homecoming games are supposed to be sure things.

Anywhere else, a meeting with the Portland Trail Blazers would be anything but certain for the retooled Rockets . But against the Trail Blazers in Toyota Center, they remain nearly perfect.

Less than a week after it was all the Rockets could do to keep the Trail Blazers from running them off the floor in Portland, they reconvened at Toyota Center on Saturday night for the Rockets' home opener and the Rockets treated the Blazers as they always do, pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 111-107 win.

With that, they are 14-1 against the Blazers at Toyota Center, including last season's three first-round playoff wins. The Rockets have won 11 of 12 regular-season meetings with the Blazers in Houston, including their past five. And with the Rockets' latest win against a talented and towering team thought on another level, the Rockets declared they would not concede to the assumptions about them.

"It's still early, so it really doesn't mean anything, but it's a step in the right direction," said Trevor Ariza, who poured in a career-high 33 points, making 11 of his 17 shots and five of eight 3-pointers. "But I don't think they're that much better than we are. They have a few bigs and they have length and all that stuff. But we want to win, too, just like everybody else. And we have the heart to win."

Ariza got the Rockets off to a far different start offensively than in the Rockets' opening-night struggles, when they needed three quarters to score the 56 points they topped in Saturday's first half. From there, Aaron Brooks drove the Rockets through the second half. Brooks, who starred at the University of Oregon during much of the Rockets' streak, scored 20 of his 28 points after halftime, still getting half his eight assists.

Points in the paint

With Ariza mixing range shooting and drives, and scoring eight of the Rockets' 11 fast-break points in the first quarter, and Brooks consistently penetrating the much bigger Blazers defense, the Rockets were small but effective in the paint, scoring 42 points in the lane.

"I think we all just wanted to get to the paint," Brooks said. "We ran a lot of ball screens this time. We were trying to get into the paint and kick it out to open shooters. Our offense really got going."

Better on the boards

But the difference came when the Rockets shored up their biggest shortcoming, taking care of the defensive boards long enough to pull away, even as Brandon Roy dominated, finishing with 42 points, including 16 in the final seven minutes.

The Rockets had led by nine with nine minutes left, when they went cold for three minutes, missing their next five shots with three turnovers as the Blazers closed to within two. Ariza and Roy exchanged drives to three-point plays before the Rockets' offense surged again.

Ariza took a pass from Shane Battier at the 3-point arc, pump-faked and then drilled a 3-pointer, giving him a career-high five 3s. Then Brooks cut left and nailed a fade-away from 20 feet just beyond Rudy Fernandez's reach to put the Rockets up 103-96 heading into the final four minutes.

The Rockets finally made that lead safe by grabbing the rebound on five consecutive Portland misses to cut off a key to the Blazers' offense. When Brooks nailed another 3-pointer, he sent them to the last three minutes ahead 107-96.

"I think Portland really killed us in rebounding last game (outrebounding the Rockets 51-31) and by committee, we did a good job of rebounding," Brooks said. "I don't think anybody had over six rebounds but we all had a rebound. We only got outrebounded by five this time."

The Rockets needed every bit of that cushion to hold on through a few rocky last minutes. Roy even cut the lead to three with 11.5 seconds left, and the Blazers quickly sent Brooks to the line. Brooks missed his first attempt, but nailed the second to clinch the win, and provide a sense that some things have not changed.

Hustle plays

"I know the personnel that we have in this locker room is not overwhelming, but how hard we play is," Chuck Hayes said. "How hard we play speaks volumes. That's what we need every night, especially here at home. We got to protect home."

At least against the Blazers, they still usually do.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

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