The Portland Trail Blazers' midseason surge came to a halt when it ran square into Chris Paul.

The Houston Rockets point guard delivered down the stretch, thwarting the Blazers comeback attempt with clutch shot making in the final minutes, handing Portland a 121-112 loss Wednesday night at the Toyota Center.

With the clock winding under two minutes and the Blazers threatening to pull off a double-digit comeback, Paul put on a pick and roll clinic to seal the game for Houston.

First he drilled a three-pointer, stepping behind a high screen to swish a shot that put the Rockets up seven with 1:45 left. On Houston's, next possession Paul navigated a high screen, slithered into the paint and scooped in a right-handed layup between three defenders.

Portland's three-game winning streak ended right there as the ball kissed in off the glass.

TOP PERFORMERS

Damian Lillard returned after a two-game absence and scored a team-high 29 points to go with eight assists and five rebounds. CJ McCollum had 24 points, six rebounds and four assists and Evan Turner added 18 points, including two impressive baskets when the Blazers were rallying late in the fourth quarter.

Paul led Houston with 37 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists. He and Eric Gordon (30 points, five rebounds) more than made up for the lack of James Harden, who missed his fifth straight game with a hamstring injury.

TURNING POINT

Rockets wing Gerald Green stepped into a top of the key three-pointer with 6:18 left in the game, capping an 11-3 burst and pushing the Houston lead to 103-89. Green's bucket came on Houston's second offensive rebound of the possession.

The Blazers responded with a 9-0 run of their own, but couldn't overcome their largest deficit of the game or stop Paul from carving them up in the final two minutes.

REBOUNDING

The Rockets out rebounded the Blazers 49-40 and had a huge edge on the offensive glass where they grabbed 17 of their own misses compared to just six offensive rebounds for Portland.

LILLARD RETURNS

After missing two games with a right calf strain, Lillard was back in the Blazers lineup. He didn't score for the opening 16 minutes of the game until he connected on two free throws. He didn't make a shot until the 6:26 mark of the second quarter, but still finished 9-for-16 from the floor in 32 minutes.

It was clear Lillard was still working his way towards 100 percent even if his box score numbers suggest otherwise. While he was effective he was missing some of his explosiveness.

COLD START

Neither could get much going early as the Rockets shot 31 percent in the first quarter while the Blazers were at 29 percent. Portland started 8-for-30 from the floor, but stayed within striking distance in the first half because Houston was nearly as sluggish offensively, going 4-for-18 from three-point range in the opening two quarters.

NEXT UP

The Blazers get a day off before continuing their four-game trip on Friday, when they visit the New Orleans Pelicans at 5 p.m. at the Smoothie King Center. It's the third of four meetings between the teams this season. The Pelicans and Blazers have split two meetings in Portland this season with New Orleans All-Star Anthony Davis missing nearly all of both games.

-- Mike Richman

mrichman@oregonian.com

@mikegrich