Having been in love with the Utah Jazz for a decade,  glad to see some signs of come back this year. Jazz is back to the playoffs! Topped the Northwest divison at a record of 51-31, Jazz is facing the Houston Rockets(52-30) in the first round.

Matchups

 Point Guard

 Deron Williams vs Rafer Alston

Deron has been one of the conference's elite point guards this year, a bit of Jazz's favour. However, DWill's little playoff experience might cause him troubles in clutch moments.

Shooting Gurad

Derek Fisher/Gordan Giricek VS T-Mac

No doubt it's Rockets' total domination on the two spot, T-Mac will be toying with the Jazz's defence.

Small Forward

Andrei Kirilenko/Matt Harpring VS Chuck Hayes

Not quite a levelled fight, AK and decent hard-working Matt should be blowing young rookie Chunk Hayes.

Power Forward

Carlos Boozer VS Shane Battier

As an all-star caliber player, Carlos surely weights better than Shane.

Center

Memet Okur VS Yao Ming

National treasure Yao is a gem on the center spot except trobled stamina. NO WAY Okur could win the matchup.

Bench

Both teams have extraordinary talents on their benches, like Millsaps as rebounder or Novak as an outside shooter. No side is advantageous over the bench.

Coach

Jerry Sloan VS Jeff Van Gundy

Rather levelled play as each has his own specialities

Prediction

Jazz is now in a slump both defensively and offensively while Rockets is at their peak of performance. Rockets in 6.