Utah at Houston

The Rockets will face the Jazz in the first round for the second straight year, this time without Yao. It took a 22-game winning streak for the Rockets to find themselves with the home court here, but this team is much different now. They have since gone just 9-7. That record is 7-1 against teams not in the playoffs, and more importantly 2-6 against teams that are. During that 22-game winning streak the Rockets allowed just 88.1 points per game against playoff-bound teams. Since then, with no Yao in the middle that average has shot up to 103.4 ppg! Most give credit to Utah for being a home team that can't win on the road. That may have been true early on as they opened 4-7 on the road against playoff bound teams, but they closed the season 6-4, which included wins at Boston, New Orleans, Phoenix and here in Houston. We will back the Jazz who are just the better team on any court at this point in the season.