| 04 March 2009
By Brandon Gallawa
Houston Rockets (38-22) at Utah Jazz (37-23) 6:00 p.m. PST League Pass
Sure ESPN has what many would assume
will be the game of the night with Spurs at Mavs. Both teams are vying
for the services of one Drew Gooden, and we should know who got him by
the tip. Ultimately the Spurs are a little banged up and the Mavs are
a little overrated, but it should still be an interesting watch. The
same could be said for Hawks-Knicks, Suns-Heat, Dubs-Bulls, and
Indy-Portland. It should be a quality night of games.
The belle of the ball will be the
Rockets visiting rockin' Energy Solutions Arena to take on the Jazz.
Maybe I chose this game as an excuse to yet again the worst named arena
in the league (you're welcome, Andrew Garcia), but at least the game
itself should be entertaining.
The Rockets and the Jazz may be the
two hottest teams in the West over the past two weeks. The Rockets
have been rolling ever since finding out that T-Mac would miss the
remainder of the season. It's almost as if they are winning to spite
him. It wouldn't surprise me given Rick Adelman's reaction when he
found out that T-Mac announced his microfracture surgery on his website
before telling the team. Since then Ron Artest has been a beast and
Yao Ming has been quite mannish. The Rockets actually seem more
relaxed now that the cloud of T-Mac isn't hanging over them.
The Jazz have been dealing with
injuries all season and have just recently had all of their players
come back healthy. Maybe now all those people that predicted they
would be a team to beat will stop looking idiotic
**cough*me*coughcough**. Carlos Boozer hasn't been a world-beater
since his return, but he has made contributions and allowed the team to
improve their depth. I have no problem declaring that Jazz have the
best bench in the league now that they are healthy, and it should play
a role in this game.
The Rockets won the first two games in
the season series, but the Jazz were without Carlos Boozer and other
key players in those games. This will also be the first time these two
teams face off in Salt Lake where the Jazz hold a 26-6 record. The
results may be different this time around.
Key Match-Up: Rick Adelman versus Jerry Sloan
This
is where I mention that this is the year that Jerry Sloan really
deserves to finally win coach of the year. Sure a lot of people would
give it to him as a lifetime achievement award, but it is warranted
even without taking that into account. His work with so many different
starting line-ups, overcoming his team's injuries, getting the most out
of what he has and keeping every player working toward a common goal
has been arguably the best coaching job in his career. Adelman has
always been a fantastic regular season coach that almost always puts
his teams in a position to make the playoffs. In fact he has only
missed the playoffs twice in his 16 year coaching career. Sure he
isn't the coach you want in a big playoff series, but he has won far
more often than he has lost in his career. Surprisingly Adelman also
holds the edge in their head-to-head match-ups. How well this game is
played and the ultimate result should come down to which coach puts his
team in the best position to win.
Prediction: Jazz at home, healthy and on a roll. Let's see if one of my predictions actually comes through.
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