(My Sportsbook) - The talented but untested Portland Trail Blazers are back in the postseason for the first time since 2002-03 and will begin their Western Conference quarterfinal series against a Houston team that was pushed to the fifth seed after a blowing a 14-point lead against Dallas in their season finale on Wednesday.

The best-of-seven series kicks off Saturday night from the Rose Garden.

The Rockets won two of three games with Portland this season, but the Blazers took the lone contest between the two clubs in the Rose City, a 101-99 overtime thriller in November won by Brandon Roy's three-pointer as time expired.

Portland finished a stellar 34-7 on its home floor this season, while Houston was also a much better team at home this year, compiling a 33-8 mark in south Texas versus a 20-21 record on the road.

Rockets star swingman Tracy McGrady won't be around for the series but his absence may be a blessing in disguise. The former All-Star, who has been sidelined since undergoing microfracture knee surgery in February, has never won a first-round series in his career.

Houston is still loaded without McGrady, featuring talent like All-Star center Yao Ming, Ron Artest and Luis Scola. but haven't won a playoff series since 1997, a span of six straight first-round exits.

Although the Rockets haven't had much success in the postseason recently, they have never lost to Portland in the playoffs, winning a pair of five-game series by 3-1 margins in both 1987 and 1994.

The Blazers, however, feature an extremely young and athletic team that may be the deepest in all of the NBA. Roy, a two-time All-Star, averaged 22.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game this season and tallied 20-plus points in 55 games, showing impressive consistency.

Both Artest and defensive stopper Shane Battier will get plenty of chances to corral the former Rookie of the Year, who will be helped on the offensive end for Portland by stud power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and the athletic Travis Outlaw.

The Blazers last playoff experience was a tough seven-game series loss to the Dallas Mavericks in 2003. Portland hasn't won a postseason set since besting Utah in the Western Conference semifinals in 2000.