Big time hit for the Rockets.  Rafer Alston won’t return to the game.  It sounds like he did something to his ankle.  You hate for them to lose a key player especially since you don’t want to hear from the Rockets fans if they lose.  But Houston actually went on their run to overcome a 19 point lead without Rafer.

• McGrady has 28.  How are they going to handle him in the second half?  I don’t think you can just count on him cooling down.
• Boozer came out with both guns blaring.  He was taking it to the rim and got Mutombo in foul trouble.  With Mt M. out, the Jazz went on their run.
• Okur took it to the rim and got a dunk.  And everyone has been driving.
• The first quarter and starting the second, the Jazz played great D and had quite a few steals.  They started relaxing on D and that’s when Houston got back into it.
• The Jazz had almost as many points in the first as they did in the first half of game five.
• McGrady dribbles the ball of his foot on a break and the ref calls a foul on Harp.  Out of position again.  The refs have been okay though other than that.
• I like KK posting up on Head.  Great adjustment from the coaches.

Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the Jazz have to do in the second half.  Play D, rebound, and keep taking it to the basket.  Now that Alston is out, they need to start throwing another man at McGrady.  The Jazz did what they needed to in the first, but couldn’t keep it up in the second.  Is it the rotation and the five on the floor that’s the problem?  Korver has been good, but we need some more Brewer.

Let’s get this done.

Boozer.  It’s all on you.  You’ve dropped 41 on the Rockets before and we need that again tonight.  The Jazz can’t afford to let the Rockets hang around late in this one.  We need to put it away early and crush any hope Houston has.

Does anyone remember the last game of the season against the Spurs?  We had just put the beat down on them in the previous meeting at the ESA.  The Jazz went into SA and got blown out.  The Spurs had it going from the beginning and the game was over before the Jazz knew what hit them.  That needs to happen tonight to the Rockets.  Go all out for the first 12 minutes.  Don’t let them breathe.  And then pour it on the rest of the game.

We really can’t play worse than the last game.  The Boozer, the bench, and the rest can only go up.

It’s going to rocking at the ESA.  Let’s finish this.

I’m on with Steve Mason again today at 4 pm MDT.  I’ll be going up against Lee from The Dream Shake as we discuss why our respective teams are a better matchup for the Lakers.  This has Jerry Springer written all over it.  Both Lee and I will be going back and forth while Mason and his audience are waiting for us to go at each other’s throats.  Then he’ll surprise us both with with an unannounced guest, John Hollinger.  John will then go on to rip us both apart with stats and analysis and tell us that neither deserve to move on.

Nah, should be good though.  We’re suppose to say why our teams match up better against the Lakers.  I might turn it around on Steve (if he or his producer don’t read this first).

Lee @ The Dream Shake

Listen Live

I’ll link to the podcast when it’s up.  And I’ll have a game thread up later as the game doesn’t start for another 25 hours.

Link to the podcast

If Deron ever decides to leave Utah, maybe we can blame it on the local reporters asking dumb questions.  No names are mentioned, but yesterday after being asked an amazingly confusing question by a reporter (neither of the two pictured here), Deron gives a short answer.  After the reporter walks away, Deron’s inner monologue takes over and wants to get out.  He let a comment about the reporter slip and tries to recover.  Listen to the link here,

http://1280thezone.com/images/uploads/audio/DWill5-1-08.mp3

It sounds like Ross Siler (not sure) from the Trib steps in to mediate between the two and to keep things going.  Not sure what’s happened in the past, but if this reporter asks Deron these types of questions all the time, I could see why his frustration might boil over.