The Rockets (54-38) come into the playoffs as the 4th seed in the Western Conference. Last year they lost to the Thunder in the first round of the playoffs in 6 games. The Rockets are led by their two all stars James Harden and Dwight Howard. The have an up tempo offense that love to score. They were 2nd in the NBA in points per games in 107.7. Also they are a good rebounding team, grabbing 45 a game which was good for 4th in the NBA this year. Their defense is one area of their team that they have to improve on.
BLAZERS
The Blazers (54-28) come into the playoffs as the 5th seed in the Western Conference. The Blazers are on of the surprise teams in the Western Conference side of the playoff bracket. They have a great back court and their front court players are not bad either. They also like to get up and down the court average the 4th most points per game in the NBA. They also were the best team at rebounding at 46.4 a game.
STARTERS
PG ROCKETS PATRICK BEVERLY BLAZERS DAMIAN LILLARD
Beverly is an excellent ball handler but needs to work on his shooting as he is only shooting 41% on the year. He also need to work on passing the ball as he only averages 4 assists per game. Lillard is an up and coming point guard who in a few years could become one of the better ones in the NBA. He can score the ball well as he averages over 20 points a game. His shooting percentage needs to improve a bit as he is shooting just over 42%.
ADVANTAGE: BLAZERS
SG ROCKETS JAMES HARDEN BLAZERS WESLEY MATTHEWS
James Harden is turning into one of the best players in the NBA. He can shoot lights out as well as get to the rim. He also leads his team in assists in addition to being their top scorer. He is great at the transition three. Matthews went from being undrafted to become a above average NBA player in almost no time. He shoots the ball well at 44 %.
ADVANTAGE: ROCKETS
SF ROCKETS CHANDLER PARSONS BLAZERS NICOLAS BATUM
Parsons is an efficient shooter at 47%. He is an average rebounder averaging about 5 a game. Batum is a veteran player that brings leadership to this team as well as being a good player. He is a good rebounder as well averaging 7.5 a game.
ADVANTAGE: BLAZERS
PF ROCKETS TERRENCE JONES BLAZERS LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
Jones is turning into a good player now that he is actually playing games. His field goal percentage is really high at 54% which means that he is really efficient. Aldridge is a noter one of the blazers players that give them experience and leadership. He has a good mid range game as well as a good post game.
ADVANTAGE: BLAZERS
C ROCKETS DWIGHT HOWARD BLAZERS ROBIN LOPEZ
Howard is the best center in the NBA when he wants to be and is playing his best. His post moves have really improved from the time he entered the league and is always among the leaders in rebounding and blocked shots. Lopez is a sleeper player that is good but goes under the radar most times. He has a good post game as well but is he still isn't the quality of Howard.
ADVANTAGE: ROCKETS
PREDICTION: I expect this to be a close matchup between these two teams. The Rockets were looking to go deep in the playoffs when the signed Howard. The Blazers no one expected them to be this good. I think that Harden will go off and the Rockets will win the series. Rockets in 7.
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