Rockets to meet Utah once again/HOUSTON WINS HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE

[KFDM COOP]

Rockets to meet Utah once again

HOUSTON WINS HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE

By Tom Halliburton

The Port Arthur News

HOUSTON – Yogi Berra would call this “Déjà vu, all over again†for the Houston Rockets and Utah Jazz.

Just as with the 2007 post-season, the Rockets are officially the No. 5 Western Conference seed and the Utah Jazz No. 4. Yet, once again, the NBA playoff rules’ strange loopholes give Houston a welcome home-court advantage.

San Antonio’s 109-80 over Utah and Houston’s relatively easy 93-75 romp over the Los Angeles Clippers enabled the Rockets to finish their regular season at 55-27 – Houston’s best in 11 years. The loss caused the Jazz to end at 54-28.

Of course there are all sorts of differences between the 2008 and 2007 versions of these teams, especially the Rockets. With a new coach and several different players, Houston definitely hopes that history fails to repeat itself.

As of Wednesday night’s deadline time, the NBA had not released its first-round opening-weekend schedule. But most of the Rockets officials expected a late Saturday night Game 1 in Toyota Center.

Enough of the Shane Battiers and Tracy McGradys remained in the locker this year to remember the pain of last year’s first round Game 7 in Houston when the Jazz prevailed 103-99. That victory enabled Utah and veteran coach Jerry Sloan to rebound from an 0-2 deficit and capture the series 4-3.

With two energetic rookie forwards – Carl Landry and Luis Scola – and without Yao Ming – foot injury – and some improved depth, the Rockets definitely are a different squad. Their biggest difference from a year ago may be Houston’s more diverse offensive capability thanks to its new head coach Rick Adelman.

“They’ve counted us out all year and I think we can take some strength in that,†Battier said late Wednesday night. “When Yao Ming went down, if anybody told you the Rockets would still get the home-court advantage, you’d think they were sniffing glue.

“But make no mistake about it – as far as analyzing the differences between this year and last year – when you lose Yao Ming, it’s not a better matchup.â€

Another difference from last year has been the late-season addition of backup point guard Bobby Jackson from New Orleans. Jackson likely will have to start at least the first two games in the Utah series because of a right hamstring strain to Rockets starting point guard Rafer Alston. Jackson warmed up for the playoffs on Wednesday night by playing 30 minutes and scoring 15 points.

Jackson and his teammates prepared for a lengthy workday this afternoon. Practice at Toyota Center would start at 1 p.m. and will last a good three hours with some film watching.

“If we had Yao, we would be a lot more confident,†Jackson admitted. “But if we put our best foot forward, we know that we will have our opportunities… The West is very tough. We just have to get ready to buckle down when it comes time to play.â€

The Rockets head coach also submitted and welcomed the idea that Houston would be regarded as an underdog to Utah, a 2007 Western Conference finalist.

“It doesn’t bother me if that happens,†Adelman said. “That’s a natural thing. If we were playing San Antonio and they didn’t have (Most Valuable Player Tim) Duncan, I’d be feeling pretty good, too.

“The big thing for us is how many days that we will have to prepare… A lot of people who don’t expect that we will win, they also did not expect us to win 22 games in a row either.â€

[BMTSoulja1]

I realy didn't want to see the Jazz in the first round again.  We don't match up well with them at all.  On a bright note, the Spurs did hand their butts to them tonight, so we may catch them in a 'hangover'. 

[KFDM COOP]

I agree! Hopefully things will turn out fine!

[king]

This is gonna be the most physical playoff series