Houston-Portland game will come down to which backcourt performs better

The level of offense that will be present in Tuesday's game between the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers is crazy to think about. 

James Harden and Damian Lillard are elite scorers, and they could headline an NBA game just on the strength of their reputations. 

But Harden and Lillard are joined by teammates that are far from slouches. With Russell Westbrook and CJ McCollum as their respective backcourt mates, Harden and Lillard are each one half of two of the league's top backcourts. 

With the game set to be an offensive showcase, whichever team's backcourt balls out the most will likely win. 

Houston and Portland will play at 9 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on TNT. 

The Rockets are coming off one of their most impressive wins of the season. They defeated the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, using their defense to close the game. Harden and Westbrook combined for 55 points, with Westbrook scoring a team-high 31 points. 

With a 2-0 record in the bubble, the Rockets sit at fourth place in the Western Conference. They've succeeded in part because of Harden and Westbrook, two guards who put a significant amount of pressure on defenses. 

But Lillard and McCollum are the same way. Lillard is one of the NBA's long-range kings, with his ability to seemingly effortlessly make shots from well beyond the arc. McCollum is a shifty guard who can dribble downhill and make pull up jumpers. He also can weave his way into the lane and finish at the rim. 

Lillard is scoring 29.5 points per game and shooting 42.9% from the field in two games. McCollum is scoring 25.0 points per game and shooting 55.3% from the field. 

The Blazers are 1-1 in the bubble and have a bit more to compete for than the Rockets. They're currently the ninth seed and are two games behind the Memphis Grizzlies. 

With the bubble's setup, if the eighth seed is four or fewer games ahead of the ninth seed, then a play-in tournament will happen. The eighth seed would have to beat the ninth seed once, and the ninth seed would have to win twice to reach the playoffs.