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The official Jazz vs Rockets prediction thread.

The last matchup made a mark on us, but the other 3 were a whole different story. (I know the Rockets were bad to start the season).

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401070738
Thu, Oct 25 @Houston W 100-89
Points Mitchell 38
Rebounds Gobert 13
Assists Mitchell 7
Utah at the time: 2-2

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071048
Fri, Dec 7 vs Houston W118-91 (38-11 3rd quarter)
Points Favors 24
Rebounds Favors 10
Assists Rubio 6
Utah at the time: 13-13

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071126
Tue, Dec 18 @Houston L102-97
Points Mitchell 23
Rebounds Gobert 13
Assists Ingles 6
Utah at the time: 14-17

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071458
Sun, Feb 3 vsHouston L125-98***
Points Mitchell 26
Rebounds Gobert 13
Assists Mitchell 9
Utah at the time: 30-24

***3 days after losing @Portland by 27.
 
The two keys to this series: Rubio and Favors. Rubio needs to step it up. I think his succes - or lack of it - will be a defining moment for the future of the team. Do we continue moving forward with him or not?

But Favors is the wild card in all this. He seems to come up with some huge, timely plays in the playoffs. I’d like to see him be aggressive from the start and take on more of a veteran, leadership type role - I know that’s not really his style - but this could be his moment.

Not having Exum doesn’t help.

Houston is not as deep as last year, and their defense is weaker.

But we ain’t stopping Harden and the refs.

Rockets in 6 or 7. But man I hope I’m wrong.
 
This is the matchup I didn't want for a few reasons....1 is I hate Chris Paul and I'm tired of playing him in the playoffs for the third straight year.
But mostly...Houston is hot. We've had a great second half, but Houston has played better. They are healthy and Harden can take over a game. We aren't gonna get smacked around, but we could easily handle portland whereas Houston is gonna be a tough series, regardless if we win or lose, it will likely go 7
 
Handlogten's Heros said:
I see this as a no lose scenario... I'm down on our FA hopes... I don't think anyone beats GS... Houston is the favorite... so if we win we are the heros of the NBA and its the biggest story of the first round.

Aesthetically it is no fun, but beating the Blazers doesn't get us much cred... and losing would destroy our cred. Bring on the contenders and titans... let's test ourselves.
Click to expand...

Sign me up!
 
When I watched Houston and OKC this week the one thing that stood out to me was how small Houston is. And it showed big time on the boards on both ends. I think the Jazz can win this. They are more experienced this year and somewhat fresh coming into this series. You can make arguments for either team. But the way the Bucks played Harden was amazing. Hopefully Snyder saw that video.
 
What caught my attention was how Memphis punished Houstons switching defense time after time.... anytime some smaller dude was ending on JV he was going to work and scored or got fouled and ended up with 33 pts.( and Memphis won). Granted, Rudy does not have post up game like JV but I can see Favors doing very well in similar situations. So as weird as it sounds I feel we have better chance by playing Favors at center a lot in this series. Just watch how JV abusing whatever smaller defender Houston putting on him after switches.... I think Favors can do it too.

 
The mailman said:
But Favors is the wild card in all this. He seems to come up with some huge, timely plays in the playoffs. I’d like to see him be aggressive from the start and take on more of a veteran, leadership type role - I know that’s not really his style - but this could be his moment.
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Agreed. Plus he and Rudy were both hobbled last year, and with both of them healthy (Fav's knee issues resolved), I expect them to do some serious damage against Houston's much smaller bigs. Also, not only is Rudy much healthier, he's just better.

Jazz in 6. We get 1 of the first 2, then hold court.
 
infection said:
Here's my take on a Houston series:

Last year when everyone thought we were headed for the lottery, I kept saying that was nonsense. I wasn't saying that as an optimist (on the whole, I'd consider myself slightly on the optimistic side) but because everyone was so down on things, it appeared that I was simply an optimist. The whole year I wanted Houston in the post-season because I thought (and still do) that they're fake. When we tied the series up last year coming back to Utah, I thought we had exposed them and it looked like we'd have a pretty good chance to advance. Well, this year they've dropped off significantly (I'd been saying this all off-season when everyone still had them as #2 in the west). They lost a lot of key parts. Last year, we didn't have Rubio. This year we have a bit more shooting. However, I don't believe we have the same type of momentum coming into the playoffs. I would like our chances against Houston in something that wasn't the first round. This is the reigning MVP. This is the guy who's been marketed by the league the entire season. The whistle does not bend toward a first-round exit. While I believe we will put up a fight, I think a lot of times that we start to mount some momentum, it will have to overcome the speed bumps of the whistle (or lack thereof), and in the end I don't believe we will be able to withstand that or catch a break long enough to prevail.

Houston in 6. I hope I'm wrong.
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After we tied the series last year, I bought tickets for the wife and I to game 3. We left in the mid 3rd when we fell behind by 45 pts.
 
The Thriller said:
After we tied the series last year, I bought tickets for the wife and I to game 3. We left in the mid 3rd when we fell behind by 45 pts.
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I was camping during that game and listening to a crappy radio reception. Stopped listening early in the 3rd. Man that game sucked

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
 
fishonjazz said:
I was camping during that game and listening to a crappy radio reception. Stopped listening early in the 3rd. Man that game sucked

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using JazzFanz mobile app
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That game traumatized me for two reasons:

1. The money was sooooo wasted. Tossing dollars onto a bonfire would’ve been more entertaining and probably worth more than watching that game.

2. I haven’t seen the jazz get demolished like that since the second finals when Chicago obliterated us in one game by 40+ pts.

I feel like houston isn’t as good as last year. But I also feel like they’re one of the worst matchups out there. I’d love to see us pound them inside and get physical with Harden. But I don’t think we will go consistently inside enough and the refs will always bail out Harden
 
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