The Portland Trail Blazers started this season waiting on guard Anfernee Simons and his offensive versatility to lead the way.

That’s exactly what he did during Saturday night’s 104-98 win over the Houston Rockets by scoring a team-high 25 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter.

“It was great to see Ant make some shots and kind of carry us down the stretch,” Blaze coach Chauncey Billups told reporters at the Toyota Center.

But such nights from Simons have been rare despite being mostly healthy, except for recently missing two games with an illness and then a third with a sprained right hand.

Simons entered Saturday night averaging 15.6 points on career-low field goal percentage (37.8%) and three-point shooting (30%).

Consequently, the Blazers have suffered. Simons has now scored 24 points or more five times. The Blazers are 4-1 when he does.

They are 1-8 when he scores 20 points or less. That’s the kind of night the Blazers got from Simons during Friday’s 116-88 loss at the Rockets. He scored eight points that night on 2-of-7 shooting with four turnovers.

On Saturday, Simons got off to a confident start, scoring seven points in the first quarter. In the third quarter, however, he went scoreless on three shot attempts. He returned to being aggressive in the fourth, making 6 of 7 shots.

“I’m proud of him. Honestly,” Blazers forward Deni Avdija told reporters. “He struggled a little offensively last game. But he bounced back. And that shows a lot about the player, especially their personality. And I feel like today he showed what he’s all about. And hopefully he’ll continue to do that and be aggressive. And he’s big for our offense.”

The Blazers (7-10) have been somewhat surprising this season, with Simons playing below his standard. Should that change permanently, Portland could be out of the Cooper Flag sweepstakes.