2008 Houston Rockets v. Utah Jazz Playoff Predictions

The Houston Rockets were able to rattle off 22 straight wins during the season without All-Star center Yao Ming in the lineup for much of the run, but can they get past a Utah Jazz team which advanced to the Western Conference Finals a year ago. Jimmy Boyd provides his take in this Rockets-Jazz round one NBA Playoff predictions article.

The Argument:

It all fell into place for the Rockets from the end of January through mid-March when they rattled off 22 straight wins. My fear for Houston is that they peaked too soon. While they seemingly did better without Yao Ming in the lineup this season, momma didn't raise no fool. Tracy McGrady has never made it out of the first round, and it certainly looks doubtful that he would ever be able to do so at Houston without Ming in the middle.

The Jazz did not do themselves any favors, however, when they failed to earn home court advantage. They were the best home team in the NBA this season at 37-4, but they were less than good on the road at just 17-24. Houston ended up edging them out by a single game so if the Jazz lose this series that will likely be why.

Houston is already shorthanded without Yao Ming, and now point guard Rafer Alston will miss at least the first few games of the playoffs with a pulled right hamstring. Houston gets very little production out of its bench, and that's why it ranks just 22nd in the NBA in points per game.

The Rockets are a very good defensive team (fourth in the NBA in points allowed per game), but the ancient Dikembe Mutombo and Luis Scola are going to have a tough time keeping up with the Jazz bigs when they decide to run the floor. Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer could both prove to be big problems on the break.

I don't think Houston will have an answer for Deron Williams, who has arguably been the best point guard in the NBA this season, averaging 18.8 points per game and 10.5 dimes per contest. Mehmet Okur's ability to step out the floor and shoot the three is also going to be a tough thing for the Rockets' bigs to defend. Carlos Boozer, of course, was sensational in last year's playoffs and will be a handful down low and Andrei Kirilenko is a much more confident player then he was heading into last postseason. With the addition of Kyle Korver, the Jazz now have a legitimate assassin, which teams must mark at all times, and that opens up more things for other players.

Last year, the Jazz beat the Rockets in the opening round by winning game 7 in Houston so I don't think that the Rockets' home court advantage gives them a big edge here. It only makes the series a little tighter.

Predictions:

Jazz in 7

Make sure you check out all of Jimmy Boyd's 2008 NBA playoff predictions to help you break down each and every series through the NBA Finals. And Sign up for one of our low-cost NBA picks packages for the most winners this postseason.

Take a look at our Lakers Jazz Series Predictions.

We now have all of the first round games broken down series by series:

• Mavs v. Hornets Predictions

• Suns v. Spurs Predictions

• Nuggets v. Lakers Predictions

• Raptors v. Magic Predictions

• Wizards v. Cavs Predictions

• 76ers v. Pistons Predictions

• Hawks v. Celtics Predictions

Updated April 17th, 2008