vlaze.com

Houston has their backs up against the wall after dropping two home games to fall behind 2-0 in the series. The Rockets travel to Utah and the Jazz has the best home court in basketball with a 37-4 record. The Jazz is 28-12 ATS this season at home. The Rockets have been without Yao Ming for most of the season and lost their point guard Rafer Alston to a hamstring injury and he missed both games. Jerry Sloan's strategy was to run at Houston and bring in fresh players to wear out the Rocket's thin rotation. The strategy worked as Tracy McGrady complained about being leg dead in the fourth quarter. My issue with McGrady is that he misses far too many shots and is 16-43 in this series and 1-9 from three. The shooting slump continued in the playoffs for McGrady. Kyle Korver and Matt Harpring are underrated bench stars in the league and gives the Jazz an edge off the bench in this series. Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur raise their games at home and I will play Utah in this one. Take Utah –8 ½.