NBA Playoff Preview: Jazz vs Rockets

	Utah	Houston		Advantage
PG	Deron Williams	Rafer Alston	Alston will miss the first few games of the series, but it's inconsequential. Williams is unstoppable	Jazz
SG	Ronnie Brewer	Tracy McGrady	Brewer and Kirilenko will both see time covering McGrady, but he'll get his points one way or another	Rockets
SF	Andrei Kirilenko	Shane Battier	Both are defensive-minded players, but AK-47 is much more well-rounded and has shot better	Jazz
PF	Carlos Boozer	Luis Scola	Boozer should be good for 20-10 every night and he'll likely guard Mutombo, negating his suspect defense	Jazz
C	Mehmet Okur	Dikembe Mutombo	Okur will be a difficult cover with his shooting. Deke has a few finger wags left, but little else	Jazz
Bench	Kyle Korver	Bobby Jackson	The acquisition of Korver gave the Jazz a legitimate perimeter threat and turned the season around	Jazz
Coach	Jerry Sloan	Rick Adelman	Both coaches have performed admirably, but Adelman gets credit for coaching a 22-game winning streak	Rockets

Overview: Despite Utah's higher seed, the Rockets will have homecourt advantage due to a superior record. This could play a huge role, considering Utah's home-road splits. The Jazz went 37-4 at home, but were sub-.500 on the road with a 17-24 record. That said, it's still hard to see Houston winning this series. They are a better defensive team than the Jazz, but they don't match up well with Utah's top scoring threats. Boozer tore through Yao Ming last year and it's likely he'll do the same to whatever combination of Mutombo, Scola, and Chuck Hayes that he sees. Meanwhile, Houston has no one even remotely capable of containing Williams. The Rockets will be counting on McGrady to provide most of their offense, but with Brewer and Kirilenko defending, McGrady will have a very difficult time getting easy baskets. The Rockets have surprised us before, so you never know, but the smart money is on Utah.

Jazz in 6