The Utah Jazz | as seen by Basketball John

So here we are in one of the most unlikely matchups in the playoffs.  Obviously no one thought GS was getting by Dallas.  And no one gave the Jazz much chance against the Rockets after going down 0-2 and having to play game 7 on the road.  That’s why I don’t like predictions, because as K from Men in Black would tell the experts:

Cool, whatever you say, slick, but I need to tell you something about all your skills. As of right now, they mean precisely… dick.

Anything can happen.  And who remembers picks anyway?  I don’t think anyone goes back and tallies the votes.  And if you pick right, either you’re going with the odds or you’re a fan of the team, right?  So let the best team win.  That’s what happened in both previous series.

And Bill Simmon’s kiss of death prediction last time proved well, so I’m including his prediction about this series:

Jazz-Warriors: A worst-case scenario for GSW. The Warriors would have crushed Houston; now they have nobody to defend Carlos Boozer (an emerging superstar), the Williams-Davis matchup is a wash and their home-court advantage has been nullified because Utah can win anywhere (as it proved in Game 7 of the Houston series). As much as it kills me … Jazz in 5.

With that said, it’s interesting that either the Utah Jazz or the Warriors are going to be playing in the Western Conference finals.  And if they haven’t beaten the hell out of each other by then, you’d have to think that the winners of the Spurs/Suns series would have to be kind of worried.  They’re beating the hell out of each other already, so maybe the winner of the Utah/GS will get a break.

And here are my predictions, for what they’re worth.  I think it goes 7 with each team winning on their home courts.  They’re two of the roudiest places for visiting teams to play.  And of course I’m taking the Jazz, it’s a freaking Jazz blog, right?  The player that pushes the Jazz over the top is Carlos freakin’ Boozer.  He schooled Yao and anyone else the Rockets threw at him.  And GS has no one to stop him.  Every other matchup is pretty even.

T minus 60 minutes until game 1 tip off.  Check back for quarterly updates.