How LaMarcus Aldridge is destroying the Rockets

The first five days of the 2014 NBA playoffs have been extraordinary, leaving us with plenty to marvel at and discuss. But amidst all of that glorious chaos, one player has stood out. Not Kevin Durant, although he's already made a postseason memory or two of his own. Not LeBron James, who has helped the Heat stave off the hungry Bobcats. And not even Paul George, who is averaging 25.5 points, 10 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 4.0 steals and 1.5 blocks through two games for the Pacers.

The star who has shone brightest thus far is LaMarcus Aldridge, who has torched and demoralized the Rockets to the tune of 89 points, 26 rebounds, five blocks and three assists through two road games, helping the Trail Blazers steal both games in Houston to open a series in which the Rockets were more heavily favored than a standard 4-seed.

The problem for Houston now, other than the fact that they'll be fighting for their lives in one of the NBA's most hostile environments (Rose Garden) and that they need to win four of five just to avoid a first round loss, is that there doesn't seem to be a sound plan out there to slow Aldridge or the Blazers' offense down.

Aldridge probably won't continue to shoot over 59 percent from the field and expecting him to shoot 13-of-19 from the midrange area, as he did in Game 2, is unrealistic. But one of the many beautiful things about a four-to-seven game playoff series as opposed to an 82-game regular season is that trends don't necessarily need to regress to the mean. In addition, it's not like Aldridge is abusing the same defender over and over again or only scoring from one area of the floor (although he obviously prefers the left side), where the Rockets could take solace in the fact that different defenders or different defensive looks might slow the big man down going forward.

No, Aldridge has scored on every one and in almost every conceivable way through two games of this series.

Fading away on Dwight Howard:

Going up and under on Terrence Jones:

Backing down Chandler Parsons:

Putting Francisco Garcia in the spin cycle:

Using a hook shot to evade Omer Asik's help:

In the pick and roll:

Outworking and out-positioning every Rocket on the floor for a put-back:

Firing off-balance jumpers:

Heck, Aldridge is even hitting threes against the Rockets:

You can point to the fact that the Rockets haven't doubled Aldridge enough (When they have tried to bring an extra defender, Aldridge has managed to get his shot off quickly before that man arrives, as Kevin McHale said himself during the Game 2 broadcast) and the fact that he's only recorded three assists total compared to four turnovers in Games 1 and 2 combined as evidence that Aldridge and the Blazers' offense will stall if Houston consistently brings a second defender, but that's missing the point.

Aldridge isn't averse to passing when need be, and he has the ability to find open shooters. For one, he doesn't really need to pass the ball right now when he can make lunch meat out of the Rockets every time he touches the ball. And two, just because he isn't racking up assists, it doesn't mean that he's not actually moving the ball, as according to NBA.com's player tracking data, Aldridge has made 80 passes in his 81 minutes on the floor.

If the Rockets double him every time down the floor, as they probably should at this point, then they're one sharp Aldridge find away from leaving themselves vulnerable to Portland's devastating perimeter attack. Damian Lillard, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, Mo Williams and Dorell Wright are all more than capable three-point shooters, and the Blazers were a top-10 three-point shooting team this season. If that double starts coming, chances are one of those guys (or worst case, Robin Lopez under the basket) is going to be open to fire away.

This Western Conference quarterfinal series is still far from over and the Rockets are capable of stealing a game or two in Portland, especially when you consider that James Harden surely has to be better than he has been thus far, but in a two-week series, one star can get unfathomably hot and eliminate a team almost singlehandedly. Stephen Curry did it to the third-seeded Nuggets around this time last year, and now LaMarcus Aldridge is halfway to doing the same thing to the fourth-seeded Rockets.

(All GIFs courtesy of boxscore video footage at NBA.com/stats)