The Basketball Diaries

Utah Jazz 90 Houston Rockets 84 (Jazz lead 2-0)

It's pretty odd, while I was well aware of the Jazz' 37-4 home record this season, I was just as aware of their 17-24 mark on the road. Still, I figured they'd be able to get at least one victory in Houston and take care of the Rockets at home. I didn't think they'd win the first two games in Houston though, virtually locking up this series already. (There's no way Houston can win 2 of 3 in Utah. Not happening.) Really, that's fine with me because the Jazz are my pick to come out of the west and lose to the Celtics in the NBA Finals. Deron Williams had 22 points and one sore ass, while Mehmet Okur had 16 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Jazz. "It's great for us to come out the way we did and not settle for the one victory," said Williams, who re-aggravated a tailbone injury. "We wanted to get both of them, get greedy. We've just got to go back now and take care of business." Tracy McGrady had 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 9 assists for the Rockets, but for the second straight game he went scoreless in the 4th quarter. Not exactly the kind of performance he needs to have if he ever wants to see the second round.


Cleveland Cavaliers 116 Washington Wizards 86 (Cavs lead 2-0)

I had high hopes for this series, what with the fact that these two have now played in the postseason the last three years, and the trash-talking going back and forth between the teams before the series started, but those hopes have been squashed so far. The Wizards look like a team that's out of sync as they try to work their three big pieces back into the puzzle, and LeBron James looks like LeBron James. LeBron scored 30 points, handed out 12 assists, and grabbed 9 rebounds as the Cavs just blew the Wizards out of the gym. Though on the bright side, at least the bad blood has remained, as Brendan Haywood was ejected for a flagrant foul on LeBron, and there were some hard fouls being handed out by both teams all night. So at the very least, maybe we'll get a fight out of this series before it's over. Unfortunately, I think that's the only thing left to look forward to, but you never know in the playoffs. Things could turn around drastically come game 3 in Washington.