The Houston Rockets took game 1 convincingly in Portland to steal away the homecourt advantage from the Trailblazers but couldn't muster enough to steal game 2 as well, as the roar of the crowd in the Rose Garden and Brandon Roy's 42 points proved too much to overcome on Tuesday night.

The series is now tied 1-1 but it's essentially 0-0 with Houston now having the homecourt advantage. This is a 5 game series:

@ Houston, Friday April 24th *W

@ Houston, Sunday April 26th *W

@ Portland, Tuesday April 28th *L

@ Houston, Thursday April 30th *W / L*****

@ Portland, Saturday May 2nd L*****

*If both teams hold homecourt the rest of the way, the Rockets will win this series in game 6, like many originally predicted. In years past, the Rockets have lost key home playoff games and must find a way to win all three at the Toyota Center this year. Do that, and my friends, we get out of the first round for the first time in 98217565281596 years.

*****Do it not, lose one in Houston, and we will most likely be forced to play a game 7 in Portland. That loss to Dallas in 2005 by 40 points still looms in the back of my mind. We must win all of our home games. We've done it all year and there's no reason why we can't continue doing so. The Rockets need to tighten up their defense again and hold down their home court.