The Houston Rockets were unlucky to just miss the home court advantage, and the Blazers who have finally made it to the playoffs for the first time in 7 years and are looking to put on a good show in front of their home fans and getting an early lead against the Rockets.

The good thing about the Trail Blazers is that they have a young team, that are hungry and ready to get the job done against a Houston team, that have constantly got knocked out of the first round ever since Tracy McGardy had arrived to Texas.

All eyes will be on Brandon Roy, as they leading scorer can turn the tide very easily in his favor with some breath taking performances on the night and take the game away from the opposition. LaMarcus Aldrige will pay a pivotal part in this game, as his scoring could decide the tie with the match up against the small Luis Scola.

The bench of Portland will definitely outscore the Houston bench with players like Batum, Fernandez, Frye and Pryzbilla.

The Rockets on the other hand will be looking to feed the ball into Yao Ming, who will look to take advantage of the mismatch in size against Pryzbilla and Oden. A lot I feel will depend on the play of the youngster Aaron Brooks, who has shown this season, that he is ready to stand up and be counted.

Ron Artest will be the one who will have the interested matchup with Brandon Roy aiming to shut him down, but expect Portland not to focus too much on defence as the youngsters aim to run and gun and outscore the Rockets early on.