The 4-5 matchup in the Western Conference so far has featured a whole lot of offense and not very much defense. Portland's offense has been better than Houston's which is why they are clinging to a 3-1 series lead. Kevin McHale's Rockets will need to make some changes if they want to come back and win the series,starting with their defense.
Houston has been allowing an absurd 118.25 points per game to Portland so far in this series. There is just no way you can win a seven game series with defense that horrid. One of the defensive adjustments they will have to make is doubling Portland's Lamarcus Aldridge all the time. Two men should be on him every time he touches the ball. Secondly, if Aldridge is covered well enough, they will have to stop Damian Lillard, Portland's second ooption. Patrick Beverley will need to play the game of his life on defense in order for his team to win.
For Portland to win, they too will have to focus mainly on defense. Offense comes natural to this team while defense doesn't. Dwight Howard and James Harden will play their tails off to keep their team's hopes alive. If Portland can shut just one of these two down, they should be able to win. Howard should be their main focus, then they should worry about Harden. Howard is more consistent and is a veteran, so he knows what it takes to win a playoff series and he will be giving his all. Tonight should be yet another interesting game in what has so far been a very exciting series.