a problem Rockets are

bad matchup

for Blazers

I t's a lousy matchup. On paper. On hardwood. Home or road. The Trail Blazers don't match up well with the Houston Rockets, which is why you have to be rooting today for anything else.

Never thought I'd write this, but if only a first-round series against the Lakers were somehow a possibility.

San Antonio as a consolation, maybe?

Portland's 102-88 loss to Houston on Sunday was the latest indictment in the series. The Rockets have won 10 of the last 11 games against the Blazers in Texas, and 17 of the last 21 overall.

Two seasons ago, Houston swept the season series with the Blazers 4-0. The Rockets were the only team to do that to Portland. And this season, the Rockets won the series 2-1.

By the way, Portland's lone win this season against Houston came at the Rose Garden on a night in which Brandon Roy drained that 31-foot, three-point basket as time expired during overtime.

You want to rely on heroics in the playoffs?

Didn't think so.

The playoffs are not about big performances, as television would have you believe. They are not about the teams with the better records advancing by showing up. Rather, the playoffs are about matchups, specifically exploiting mismatches, and the Blazers don't have good options against Houston.

Ron Artest is too strong, and too good a defender. Yao Ming is foul trouble for the Blazers' big men. And former University of Oregon star Aaron Brooks, the Rockets' point guard, plays the Blazers like he remembers them from his old neighborhood.

Rockets coach Rick Adelman?

The young Blazers don't have a reason to compete any harder against him than anyone else. There's nothing deeply personal to Roy and Co. about the matchup. But Adelman was the Blazers' first team captain, and remains the franchise's winningest coach at 291-154 (.654).

If the playoffs started today, Portland would be the No. 5 seed and play Houston, the No. 4 seed. The Blazers need to hope one of the two teams can move up to third in the Western Conference.

Current No. 3 San Antonio is fading, and guard Manu Ginobili is out for the season. A first-round matchup with the Spurs sounds sweet given the Blazers' debacles in Houston.

Utah is also a nice matchup for the Blazers, given their recent blowout victory over the Jazz and the injury problems coach Jerry Sloan's team has had this season.

It wasn't so long ago that we were all talking about how wonderful it would be for the Blazers to simply reach the playoffs. And it speaks volumes about the franchise at One Center Court that we're now nitpicking the potential matchups, looking for a way for the Blazers to do the unthinkable --get out of the first round.

I loved that the headline in Monday's Oregonian had the words "We're there!" Because it's true that Blazers fans have shared in the team's toughest moments. The players are there. The coaches are there. The franchise is there, but so are fans who demanded their NBA franchise be more than an asylum for the league's miscreants and castaways.

The question is, who will be waiting for the Blazers?

When you examine the seven other Western Conference playoff teams, you can imagine the Blazers beating just about any of them. Yes, even the Lakers, who have struggled at the Rose Garden. Not saying that kind of upset would happen, just saying it feels like more fun than facing the Rockets.

Portland should be proud that it's back in the playoffs. It's a powerful accomplishment by a franchise that promised to do better, but taking the next step is going to require some delicacy.

The Blazers are 1-11 this season on the road against the other seven probable Western Conference playoff teams. New Orleans is the only one Portland has been able to beat on the road --and that win was aided by an injury to All-Star guard Chris Paul.

ROOT for a series with the Hornets, then. Or Utah, which Portland matches up well against. Or Denver, which has mental lapses and feels like a good matchup for a young, focused team.

But Houston feels like a bottomless pit.

John Canzano: 503-294-5065;

JohnCanzano@aol.com

Read his blog at

oregonlive.com/canzano.

Catch him on the radio on

The Bald-Faced Truth, 3-6 p.m.

weekdays on KXTG (95.5).