The Houston Rockets and the Portland Trail blazers have been two of the best teams in the western conference in the first part of the season and on Thursday night on the NBA on TNT schedule, the two teams will go at it at the Moda Center and the matchup starts at 10:30 pm and will put Dwight Howard up against LaMarcus Aldridge in what could be a potential playoffs preview.

The Rockets have high expectations after signing Howard in the offseason and they are currently second in their division behind the San Antonio Spurs, while the Blazers have been the most surprising team in the NBA, leading the western conference and now they will face off against the Rockets and Howard. Houston comes into the game after a home win over the Orlando Magic by 10 that saw James Harden lead the way with 27 points and 10 assist, while Dwight Howard finished with 22 rebounds, his third 20-plus rebound game of the early season and he has been working very well in sets with Harden and the Rockets should be a very dangerous team come playoff time, as they are the highest scoring team in the league right now with well over 100 points per game and while the defense hasn't been great, the rebounding has and they are in the top of the league in that category as well.

Check here for the Rockets and Blazers live coverage.