Playoff Preview: (4) Jazz v. (5) Rockets (First Round)

Playoff Preview: Jazz Roster

Despite off season trade demands from a then-disgruntled Andrei Kirilenko, the Utah Jazz sent out the same starting lineup that went on the Western Conference Finals last season. A midseason trade sent Gordon Giricek and a first-round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Kyle Korver – a player with a good outside touch from the three-point arc and a excellent free-throw shooting to boot. Check out the Utah Jazz depth chart:

• Point Guard: Deron Williams, Jason Hart, Ronnie Price


• Shooting Guard: Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Miles, Morris Almond


• Small Forward: Andrei Kirilenko, Matt Harpring, Kyle Korver


• Power Forward: Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap, Kyrylo Fesenko


• Center: Mehmet Okur, Jarron Collins

Playoff Preview: Jazz Season

The Utah Jazz continued to play Jerry Sloan’s hard-nosed brand of basketball that they played last season and parlayed into a Western Conference Finals meeting with the San Antonio Spurs. This season, the Utah Jazz continued their Northwest Division dominance, playing faster, stifling on the defensive end and forcing more turnovers, and scoring even more points (106.2 PPG) than they did last season (101.5 PPG). What’s more, the addition of Kyle Korver to the Jazz lineup helped the Utah Jazz improve in their half-court offense and spread the floor a bit more. It helps that the Utah Jazz’s big men – Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer – are able to run the fast break so well. In summary, the Utah Jazz are big, fast, and possibly one of the most dangerous (yet underrated) teams in the NBA this season.

Playoff Preview: Rockets Roster

The Houston Rockets revamped their roster from last year, while still building around All-Stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady and keeping their starting lineup of 2006-07 largely in tact for the first part of the season. The Houston Rockets picked up a slew of rookies – Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Aaron Brooks – and loaded up on guards by adding Steve Francis and Mike James to the lineup. At midseason, center Yao Ming went down with a season-ending foot injury, so the Houston Rockets called upon Dikembe Mutombo to take over in the middle. A midseason trade brought in veteran back-up point guard Bobby Jackson and sent Bonzi Wells and Mike James to the New Orleans Hornets. Check out the Houston Rockets depth chart:

• Point Guard: Rafer Alston, Bobby Jackson, Aaron Brooks


• Shooting Guard: Tracy McGrady, Luther Head, Steve Francis (injured)


• Small Forward: Shane Battier, Steve Novak


• Power Forward: Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes, Mike Harris


• Center: Dikembe Mutombo, Loren Woods, Yao Ming (injured)

Playoff Preview: Rockets Season

At the beginning of the season, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming carried the offensive load for the Houston Rockets with little scoring coming from anywhere else. With a new coach in Rick Adelman and an entirely new offense to learn at the beginning of the 2007-08 season, the Houston Rockets staggered and hovered around and below .500 basketball from November until the beginning of January. As a result, Adelman decided to insert Luis Scola into the starting five to resuscitate the Rockets’ anemic offense, while bringing Carl Landry and Chuck Hayes off of the bench. Luis Scola’s was an excellent complement on offense alongside big man Yao Ming, while Carl Landry brought intensity, toughness, and excitement to the floor, and the Houston Rockets began to roll. Despite losing Yao Ming to injury for the rest of the season, the Houston Rockets reeled off a history-making 22-game win streak.

Before the Houston Rockets’ win streak, many critics left the then-10th place and Yao-less Houston Rockets for dead in the tough Western Conference. The Houston Rockets used the win-streak to surge from 10th place in January to 1st place in the West in March, but still many critics counted the Houston Rockets out. Despite the win streak and the Houston Rockets surging from 10th place in the West in January to first place in the West in March, many critics still counted the Houston Rockets out. Now, the Houston Rockets have finished the season at 55-27, clinched the fifth seed and home-court advantage in the playoffs for the second year in a row against the No. 4 seed Utah Jazz. The Houston Rockets hope that history will not repeat itself, with the Houston Rockets losing to the Utah Jazz in seven games last season and failing to get out of the first round of the playoffs yet again. 



Playoff Preview: Head-to-Head

The Houston Rockets have reeled off an NBA-best 40-11 run since January 1, 2008, while the Utah Jazz have led the Northwest Division for much of the season. Both the Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets made midseason roster moves (for the better) that went largely under the radar thanks to blockbuster deals with Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Kidd, and Pau Gasol flying around. The Utah Jazz brought in Kyle Korver, while the Houston Rockets traded Bonzi Wells and seldom-used Mike James for a solid, back-up point guard in Bobby Jackson.

In the season series between the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets, the Utah Jazz won two out of three games. Expect for a series of close contests as two of the best defensive teams collide in a seven-game set. Both teams will run the fast break to perfection, but the Houston Rockets – without 7-foot-6 Yao Ming – lack a dominant force in the middle to match up against the Utah Jazz’s size in Mehmet Okur and Carlos Boozer. However, the Houston Rockets are a different team than last team – albeit less playoff tested – and will count on their rookies Luis Scola, Carl Landry, and Aaron Brooks to continue to produce on offense, especially with Rafer Alston missing the first couple of playoff games with a hamstring injury.

Playoff Preview: Schedule

After locking up the Northwest Division title, the Utah Jazz claimed the fourth seed heading into the playoffs. However, the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets tallied a better record than the Utah Jazz and will have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs for the second time in as many years. Last season, the Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets in seven games, proving that home-court advantage may not play a big role in this first-round playoff series. Both the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz have tallied over 30 wins at home (the Utah Jazz boast a 37-4 record; the Houston Rockets posted a 31-10 record). If the Houston Rockets 24-17 road record compared to the Utah Jazz’s 17-24 road record is any indication, the Houston Rockets could steal a couple of wins on the road and has a chance to win the series and advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.