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 put my undefeated in-attendance record on the line tonight when the Rockets come to town for game 3.  I don’t think my streak of 7 games is in jeopardy though.  It would be one of the bigger playoff upsets if Houston were to pull this out.

They’ll have Alston back which should provide a boost.  But he’s still a little sore.  But apparently a 80% Alston is better than what they have.

We’ll get to see if McGrady has anything left in the tank to make this series interesting.  Biased has a great write-up on how McGrady’s gone sarcastic on the whole “It’s my fault” comments.  If you want superstart treatment and status, you better be able to take the criticism.  It’s easy to laugh when you’re up 2-0 like last year.

It’s kind of a theme out west that all the series are 2-0.  The only exception is that the Jazz are the only ones to win on the road.  The Suns will probably win at home and the Mavs have done well against the Hornets at home.

So should all play out as expected, the Lakers and Jazz will start round two while the other series will probably go seven.

So let’s put this one away early and shut the door on any hope the Rockets might have left.  Expect some big money shots from Memo early and a nice 15-3 run to start the first.  Deron and company will take care of business.  The ESA is going to be out of control.  So much that Locke said, “I am off to buy my earplugs.” Wuss.  Free white t-shirts tonight at the game.  Let’s hope they don’t forget the upper-bowl this time.

This time last year the Jazz dropped game 2 to Houston on the road and were heading back to the SLC to try to salvage the series.  This year things are a bit different.  The Jazz already have stolen home court and can effectively end Houston’s season tonight with a win.  I always hate saying that type of thing because it always comes back to haunt you should it not turn out.

As I said in game 1’s recap, I think Houston is done.  I think McGrady is already looking to next season when Yao and Alston are back.  He’s tired of the “can’t get out of the first round” player and wants to be able to say it wasn’t his fault.  And to a point it’s not really.  Nobody expected them to win this series with the injuries they’ve had.  But he still owes his fans a competitive series.

Look for the Jazz to do the same defensive scheme tonight.  As Ken, Scrum, and FLA stated, they’re going to keep playing T-Mac straight up and send help.  Someone else is going to have to beat the Jazz.  We’re going to have to see Scola or Bobby Jackson have a career night.  Battier was great in the first game, but unless McGrady has 50+, just having two scorers won’t be enough.

Have you ever seen Memo and AK both have good games on the same night?  I can’t remember the last time both of them had close to 20 in the same game.  They must share one pair of lucky socks.  Boozer and Williams will get their’s tonight.  We’ll need a good game from one of the sock mates and KK and Millsap to do their thing.

Either the Jazz blow them out in this one or the Rockets pick up a win.

Other blogs,

• My Utah Jazz
• The Dream Shake (gets straight to the point)
• David Thorpe

Let’s end this already. 9 years is long enough. I’m sick of hearing about it. Bill Clinton was dealing with Lewinsky the last time the Jazz won in SA.

It’s a winnable game based on the recent play of the Jazz. They’re something like 11-8 on the road since the loss @ DEN back in Jan. And I prefer to play the Spurs at home in the first round than to play on the road @ HOU and then have a potential matchup against the Lakers in the second round.

Manu looks like he will play tonight. The Jazz need two things to win this,

• First, don’t give up a big first quarter. The Jazz rally back from these but don’t usually have enough to get over the hump to win these games.
• Play D like your life depends on it. They played great D on the Spurs last time. SA missed a lot of open shots, but those shots were ones the Jazz wanted them to take.

So let’s hope we see the Memo of recent weeks, the passing/slashing/blocking AK, Baseline Brewer, and KK knocking down some dagger threes.

And Deron will dominate this game.

Last regular season game. Let’s do this.

Other blogs,

• FLA
• My Utah Jazz
• Biased Fan
• Pounding the Rock
• Spurs Dynasty
• Spurs Report Thread

Okay, before I get to the preview, I need to share one thing.  I look at my logs for search terms that end up at BBJ.  I get a ton for Kyle Korver, Jazz players girlfriends (don’t know if that’s from chicks looking to see if they’re available or their current SOs checking up on them), Deron Williams & Amy Williams, etc.  First that tells me I should run an NBA player gossip site.  But I came across a disturbing search term today.  Maybe it’s more disturbing that it brought up my site.  Jaron Collins wallpaper.  Now I don’t have many wallpapers and I certainly don’t have one of Jaron.  Who’s looking to put a Collins wallpaper on their PC?  I’ll have to follow that IP and see what else they’re searching on.  Disturbing.

First off, if you’re head doesn’t hurt enough from the potential playoff seedings, read Siler’s post and the comments.  They also have some info on TrueHoops.  I don’t know if anyone knows what’s going on.  The Jazz could still get a 3 seed but potentially a 2 seed?  I just want the playoffs to start already.  It would be nice if we didn’t have to face SA in the first round, but if that’s what it takes…

The Jazz are 3-1 on this last six-game “series” of the year.  Unlike in a real series, they’d only have to win one more game to move on.  But this one will require two wins in order for the Jazz to get favorable circumstances for the first round.

And of course the last game against the Spurs will be moot if they don’t win tonight (maybe not, I’m too lazy/tired to figure it out). 

In a potential first-round matchup (although I think the Jazz v. my mom is still a possibility at this point), Houston comes to town with their own playoff seedings at stake.  Alston is out though and Battier and Bobby Jackson might be.  If that’s the case, the Jazz should win this one against T-Mac.  Houston is locked into the 5-seed as far as the lowest they can drop.  But they too could move up to #2 I believe.  With the exception of Dallas and maybe LA, everyone in the west still has something to play for.

Not much that needs to be said about this game.  We’re at home and should get the win.  A loss could be one of the most disappointing losses of the year.  It would be nice to not have to start out on the road @ Houston again.

So let’s hope that this one is over by the fourth again and we can focus on beating SA at SA.

Other sites,

• My Utah Jazz
• The Dream Shake

Sorry I didn’t get a recap up of the Mavs game.  I’ve been recovering from a dagger wound given to me by Jirk.

And I didn’t really feel like talking about the million reasons why the Jazz lost that game.  Whether it was the lack of Booze, the refs, or whatever, the game’s over.  And there’s not much that can be done about it now.  We’re pretty much locked into the fourth seed.  And now we need a lot of help to get home-court.  We’re two games back of Houston, our likely first-round opponent again.  We can take care of one of those games the next time we see them.  But we’re going to need some help.  But they could also move up to anywhere from 1-3 as they’re only 1 game back of NO.  I’d rather see Houston than SA or LA.  If NO somehow fell to 5, that would be great.

Anyway, don’t worry about Boozer.  He’s had a bad April, but he’ll pick it up.  It drives Jazz fans absolutely insane when he has a few poor games.  Trade him!  Boozer sucks!  He’ll be just fine.  And as long as he doesn’t disappear in the playoffs (he wont), we’re just fine.

And have you noticed the fireball that is Deron Williams the past few games?  Is there anyone on the court that wants to win more?  If you’re not on the D-Train, you’re going to get run over.  Let’s just hope he can inspire his teammates to play up at his level.

You might say that tonight’s game then doesn’t mean much.  But we still need it for home-court.  And it’s still Denver.  It’s always a pleasure to beat them.  And a win over them tonight and a GS win would knock them back into a tie for 8th with Denver still having the tiebreaker advantage.  But a nail in Denver’s playoff coffin would bring Jazz fans immense joy.

My Utah Jazz will be doing some live blogging tonight so I might chime in there.

The Jazz are now 2-0 in their six-game first-round “series.” After impressive wins against the Spurs and the Hornets, Jazz fans are buzzing about reaching the WCF again. The Jazz are now 11-7 on the road since a January loss @ Denver.

Both San Antonio and NO rebounded from the defensive beatings they took from the Jazz. The Jazz will need to play the same D on Dallas tonight as the Mavs are now playing well again since the return of Jirk. He got his karmic whiplash for taking out AK in the last meeting by getting injured himself. They injury could have ended his season, but he was able to come back. I don’t know if he’s 100%. Don’t expect any revenge from AK tonight though. A win and a good beating of Dallas would be revenge enough.

The Jazz are playing for home-court and making some noise going into the playoffs. They’re only 1 game back of LA, SA, and HOU. The Lakers are at LAC for a road game. I don’t expect much from the Clips on this one. So the Jazz need a win to stay one game back. Meanwhile, Dallas has a playoff spot pretty much locked up, but they’re fending off Denver and GS for sixth. So they’ve got a lot to play for so that they don’t end up playing the #1 seed.

If the Jazz can wake from their offensive slumber the past couple of games and play even half the defense they’ve played over the last two games, they’ll have a good shot at a win. Let’s hope the karmic payback on Jirk results in a loss for them. Then we can call it even.

Other blogs,

• Biased Fan
• My Utah Jazz
• FLA
• Mavs Moneyball

This is the game that sets the tone for the rest of the regular season.

Just 2 1/2 games back of the Spurs in the standings, the Jazz need this game to have a reasonable chance of moving up in the standings and gaining home court advantage.

As weird as it sounds, these are the games you want to see the Jazz playing at the end of the season.  If the Jazz have any business of winning in the playoffs, these are the teams you have to beat.  You can’t wuss your way through the West.  So if we do well on this stretch it’s a good pre-cursor for the playoffs.  If we limp through these games, well maybe it’s just not the year.

Of course, you could have said the very same thing last year.  They Jazz stumbled for the last two months heading to the post-season and ended up in the WCF.  So what do I know?

So we go up against Duncan, Longoria, and the original Flop (Manu).  This year the Jazz fans’ hatred had been primarily focused on Denver, and probably rightfully so.  But I think everyone’s forgotten that public enemy #1 has been Manu.  Does anyone remember back to last year’s playoffs?  If he gets booed any less than Fisher or Giri, then something’s wrong.

So expect to see a lot of Timmy’s bug eyes of unbelief tonight.  Expect to see a performance put on by Manu and Collins (who will be out in full force against Duncan).  And expect to see Eva signs when Parker is shooting FTs.

It will all come down to defense.  You can live with one, maybe two of the big three getting theirs, but if Fabio or Finley or some other scrub gets hot, it’s going to be ugly.  We all know that the Jazz can score with anyone.  They lead Hollinger’s offensive efficiency rating.  But can they get the defensive boards and stay out of foul trouble?

And the Jazz need to jump on them early and put this one away.  Look for Deron and Memo to have the big games with Brewer adding to the fray.  And if KK has his 15 points, it’s over.

The road to the playoffs start now.

Other blogs,

• Biased Fan
• My Utah Jazz
• FLA
• Pounding the Rock
• Spurs Dynasty

Other notes

• I felt kind bad for inadvertently giving Abbott at TrueHoop a heart attack with my April Fool’s column.  But not after reading this.  LeBron of course.  Howard, yes.  Paul, yes.  The ranking is debatable of course with Williams/Paul.  Just one problem.  He didn’t list Williams in his top 6.
• If we lose tonight, Danielle can’t go to any more Jazz games this year.
• A guy I work with, huge Spurs fan, got to go shag balls tonight for the Spurs and then hang out in the locker room.  Even though it’s for the Spurs, you have to be jealous.

ESPN Preview

No time to worry about the Minny loss yesterday.  The Wizards of Washington come to the SLC for tonight’s game at the ESA.

We’ll probably need another Williams/Boozer 30 point showing.  Memo is probable, AK is questionable and Ronnie is a game-time decision.

Who who really need to step it up is Korver and Millsap.  They’re likely to get the minutes from the three starters’ absences.

But most of all, let’s hope we get some D tonight.  The Jazz gave up 67 points in the second half of yesterday’s game at MIN.  If the Jazz can play any kind of D, they win games.

Other games of note,

• DEN @ PHX
• DAL @ LAC

Other blogs,

• Bullets Forever

The Jazz are returning to the scene of this humiliating loss.  They were blown out by nearly 30.

It goes without saying that they can ill afford to lose this one.  We’re only  two back of first place.  The Rockets and Spurs are squaring off now.  So we should be able to gain on one of them.

Golden State goes up against Dallas.  Dallas has won their first two meetings.  SO GS has to win the next two.  But if they do, this could be the beginning of the end for the Mavs playoff chances.

ANd of course the big news is that Fesenko and Almond both got called up yesterday (thanks for the tip UtesFan and Danielle).  That means they can’t be sent back down again.  It will be good to get the some PT in preparation for the playoffs.

So let’s hope we take care of business again and keep gaining in the standings.