Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, the anchors of Portland's team, aim to bring the series back to Oregon for a decisive game seven tonight in Houston at 9:30pm on TNT.

In NBA playoff history, only eight teams have ever come back from a 3-1 deficit. There have been plenty of times where the team facing elimination has forced games sixes and even games sevens, but it is just that hard to beat a team three straight times. The Portland Trail Blazers face that same dilemma and have already closed the deficit to 3-2. But what kind of motivation does this team have to win the series… it’s quite simple

The Trail Blazers seem to be a team suffering from the playoff willies. They’re young. However, they should convert that youthful inexperience into youthful enthusiasm to try and beat the Rockets tonight in Houston with the lingering thought in the back of their minds that if they can pull it off, they go back to Portland for game seven. They need to use this to remember that the pressure is on Houston as they definitely want no part of a game seven on the road.

I definitely think the Blazers can pick up the win as they were one of the hottest teams going into the playoffs, and in the final week of the regular season they beat Denver and L.A. who are the top two seeds in the west. So don’t be surprised if Portland becomes the ninth team in NBA history to win a series after being down 3-1.

Say hello to the league's next young equalizer.

Coming into this season, everyone knew that Brandon Roy was one of the rising stars in the league. However, up until his 52 point performance against the Phoenix Suns last night, he may very well be a rising super star.

I think the most widespread feeling across the league is that guys like Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge would make nice compliments to Greg Oden. However, until Greg Oden can begin to score twenty plus points per game, that cannot be said. Brandon Roy at this point is the player that you say “The team goes as far as Brandon Roy goes,” and his main man and sidekick is Aldridge, and not Oden.

Now, with Portland jumping to a 17-6 record which is good for 5th in the western conference, and coming off a recent three-game slump, the huge performance in Portland should propel the team to hit off some three to five game win streaks here and there for the next few weeks.

Go Brandon Roy.

Dwyane Wade, aka Flash, may very well be holding the MVP trophy at the end of the season.

Who is the Man whose momma spells the name “Dwayne” as “Dwyane?” Who is the Man who leads his team to victory by being the league’s top scorer at 28.7 points per game, almost a full point over the one they call “King” with 27.8 in Cleveland? Who is the former Marquette Master that let his team sit back and watch as he carried them to four straight victories once upon an NBA Finals ago? Who is this Man you say? D-Wade?

Yea… that and Dwyane Wade.

For those of you who it isn’t too early to be talking MVP yet, Dwyane Wade ought to be your man. He has no Shaq, and at 9-9, has his team just four wins shy of the 13 total they had all of last season. To say he has gotten much help would be a bit of a stretch.

Sure, Michael Beasley has been turning in a pretty fine rookie season at 14.7 points per game with a 45% field goal percentage. Other than, they have no big men and their pick up from last season, Shawn Marion has not presented himself as much of a scoring threat with just 12.3 points per game (coupled by a big 9.3 rebounds per contest), but at 6ft 7in, he is shorter than rookie Michael Beasley at 6ft 9in!

Thus far, Dwyane Wade has played like a man who wants no part of the shame and deplorable play his city and fans suffered through last season, and definitely does not want to be watching most of the playoffs as opposed to playing in at least part of them.

As long as Dwyane Wade can keep carrying his team to victory, especially in the fourth quarter, he has my vote for MVP right now… D-Wade! All the other usual and potential names, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Brandon Roy, Chris Paul, or Chauncey Billups have an at least decent supporting cast around them.  

So far in the NBA a few teams are back up to their old tricks, a few have been somewhat disappointing, and a good number of upstarts from last year as well as some surprising newcomers have begun to surface.

The newcomers that need to be involved in this discussion are as follows; in the east it’s Miami, New York, and New Jersey and in the west all of the other teams with playoff aspirations are of no surprise at this point in the season. Miami, led by top scorer in points per game, Dwyane Wade, are currently 9^th in the eastern conference standings. Last year, everyone remembers how atrocious they were. New York seems to be hitting its stride under the tutelage of former Phoenix head coach, Mike D’Antoni as they are 8-8 and 8^th in the standings. Finally, the previous season’s trade between the Dallas Mavericks and New Jersey Nets has finally begun to payoff, as the Devin Harris led Nets are 8-7, 6-4 in their last ten, and 7^th in the east.

The Upstarts from last year that are proving their worth are as follows; in the east it’s the Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks, while in the west we have Portland and Denver. The Magic currently sit at 3^rd and atop the eastern conference standings at 13-4 going 9-1 in their last ten. Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu and company are really hitting their stride. The continued and improved production of guard/forward Keith Bogans and the extra lift provided by off season veteran pick up Anthony Johnson as point guard have been stalwart.

The Hawks slid a bit after starting off 5-0 mainly because of losing Josh Smith for the next few months, but have regained form and are now 10-6 and 5^th in the eastern conference.

In the west the Portland Trailblazers, continue to look like a team of the future with stars Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, and the potential of first-year NBA players like Rudy Fernandez, and Greg Oden. They are now tied with Phoenix, Denver, and Houston at 11-6 while going 7-3 in their last ten games.

Denver’s success can be attributed to the trade of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson. The Nuggets are 11-6 and 7-3 in their last ten while holding 3^rd place in the west. They have had many impressive victories and performances as they beat Boston in Boston, and took the Lakers to the brink of a loss in L.A.

Now come the disappointments. The Detroit Pistons are hovering somewhere between average and above average. Although they are 10-5 and in 4^th place in the east, they are suffering some inexcusable losses, most recently a 10+ point loss to Minnesota, do not yet seem to have their act together with Allen Iverson skipping the thanksgiving day practice (however, I do give huge props to Michael Curry for taking charge by suspending him for one game), and are not nearly as consistent as they were when they had Chauncey Billups in the lineup. 

The other eastern disappointments for the eastern conference are the Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Washington Wizards.

The Raptors just 8-7 and are barely holding a spot in the eastern conference as the 7^th seeded team. With capable point guard Jose Calderon, and former all-start Jermaine O’Neal, they should be doing better.

The Sixers were a team last year that without Elton Brand finished 6^th in the east and took Detroit to six games in the playoffs. Now with virtually the same team and Elton Brand, they are struggling to find their rhythm and are 7-9 and 5-5 in their last ten. As for the “Wiz Kids,” although without injured star Gilbert Arenas they may not have been a playoff contender anyway, they are still abysmal with their 2-12 record which is good for worst in the east. Last season they played without Arenas for the most part, but still managed to finish above .500 and make the playoffs. They have now fired their coach Eddie Jordan and are in a state of disarray.

The disappointments in the west are the New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, and L.A. Clippers. The Hornets finished second last year and were one game away from the western conference finals. They are now 9-6 and 7^th in the standings in the west. The Mavericks are 8-8 and look like they are ready to get their act together one game, and then go back to mediocrity the next. As for the Clippers, you would think they could be more competitive than their 3-13 record would suggest with the pickup of marquee point guard Baron Davis. Oh well.

As for the Spurs, I’m sure a lot of people would like to put them in as a disappointment, but they have been playing without Manu Ginobli for the entire season (who is set to return soon), and Tony Parker has just returned from his injury earlier in the season. To further their defense, they are now 9-7 and 7-3 in their last ten while being 8^th in the west.

Finally we come to the top dogs in the league.

In the east you have the Cleveland Cavaliers with their 14-3 records, 9-1 in the last ten games, and 2^nd place spot in the standings. They have put together a bevy of blowouts on their opponents this season, and the addition of a scoring point guard in Mo Williams has been absolutely huge for them.

The second team that has picked up right where they left off from last year is the Lakers. They are 13-1 and making mince meat out of would be superpower teams and have the best record in the NBA.

But the pinnacle of all teams continues to be the Boston Celtics. They’re 16-2 and are still dominating defensively and continue to get great production from their supporting cast members. And although the Lakers get much help from their bench and up and coming players, let’s face it… the Celtics are still the champs.

The last three teams I must mention are the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, and Utah Jazz. To me, these three teams are in a state of limbo. Houston would look to be an upstart, but they can’t seem to keep their stars, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, healthy. The Suns seem like the same team as last year, which wasn’t a contender anyway, and the Jazz keep being a team with potential that can’t seem to build on it.

That would about sum up the NBA season at or around its quarter mark. We’ll look to see who shifts from wherever they were in this discussion and who remains where they are in the coming weeks. As for those that I did not include in this article… you really just aren’t worth mentioning (Chicago, Indiana, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Golden State, Minnesota, Sacramento, Memphis and Oklahoma City).

With Manu Ginobli out, the trio of Duncan, Parker, and Finley look to be the big three for San Antonio.

The San Antonio Spurs are not at their best, obviously, when Manu Ginobli isn’t in the lineup, and many league analysts attribute the loss of his extra offense to their early woes. However, I believe their problems originate elsewhere.

Last night, it wasn’t a lack of offense that kept San Antonio out of the game. The cutting and driving lay-ups and mid-range jumpers of Tony Parker (24pts), and hooks and short J’s of Tim Duncan (27pts) kept the Spurs in the game. But still, their were two other contributors for the Spurs last night; starter Michael Finley chipped in 16 points, and off-season free-agent acquisition Roger Mason scored 14 on 6-7 shooting… also helping to keep San Antonio in the game. The four player’s point totals adds up to 81 of the 99 their team posted altogether. That really isn’t bad considering teams like the Washington Wizards get an average of 70+ points from their big three, Gilbert Arenas (when actually healthy), Antawn Jamison, and Caron Butler, and are still one of the highest scoring teams in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire NBA.

The problem with last night’s loss wasn’t a lack of offense for the Spurs, but a lack of defense, and the fact that they allowed 13 offensive boards and countless second chance points to the Trail Blazers. Add that to a hot 10-18, 26 point, shooting night by Brandon Roy, and the Spurs still only barely lost. 

For all the grief the Spurs offense is receiving, the problems look to be emanating more from a lack of fundamental basketball skills, a phase of the game that this team has shown to be the greatest at over the past several years. If they can get back to actual Spurs basketball and not allow a team so many offensive boards, they’ll be back on track as one of the top five teams in the West.

Don't count out Roger Mason Jr. He may become a sleeper for the Spurs this season.