Portland at Houston

I pondered this selection for most of the afternoon. San Antonio up against the Mavericks is always a fun night out, even if things are a little orthodox. The Magic in Chicago should be interesting, even if it is a blowout. And all sorts of little subplots could emanate from the other five games on tonight's schedule.

That's what BtBs are for, though, and at this point the Houston/Portland pairing is looking tops.

The reason Yao is looking a tad frustrated in the above photograph is because he didn't play particularly well on the night it was taken. A night that saw the Blazers down Houston with a 30-foot Brandon Roy jumper at the buzzer.

I rewatched that game a few times before deleting it, and I have to say that a typical Yao Ming night (defensively, as well) wins that for the Rockets. And I didn't see anything in Portland that would stop Yao from not having a typical night.

But that's why we play the games.

Breathe, Yao. Breathe.

Portland Trail Blazers: 35-20, 86.8 possessions per game (30^th), 113.5 points scored per 100 possessions (2^nd), 108.8 points allowed per 100 possessions (18^th).

Houston Rockets: 35-21, 90.5 possessions per game (19^th), 108.3 points scored per 100 possessions (13^th), 104.3 points allowed per 100 possessions (5^th). 

Also, it's where we get our stats, and it's where we learned to grow up. Happy Birthday, Knickerblogger.

Related: Game to pay attention to