Is anyone else a bit ....nervous about this first round?

Jazz arent weak but if you are choosing between OKC, Blazers, Spurs and Jazz then they are the best opponent of the 4 imo.

The best outcome would've been Rox 2nd seed against Clips and OKC 8th seed to face GSW but disregarding that dream scenario 1st round against the Jazz is probably the 2nd best outcome.

The only issue I can see is if Rox beat GSW they would be extremely weak then they have to face OKC in the finals. We could end up gifting Westbrick his first ring.

 

No

 

Very true. I started to put "Capela > Gobert" but checked this year's box scores first, and the matchups were pretty even. No clear cut winner over the season series, at least.

I'm still comfortable that playoff Capela will show up like he did against the Jazz last year. Gobert looked timid and confused, and I expect to see that same expression on his face next week.

 

Even if you're concerned about the league putting their thumb on the scale, do you really think the NBA wants the perceived most racist fanbase in the league to have any success whatsoever?

Prevent a sweep, maybe. Help the Jazz win? No way.

 

I get worried when I see us playing badly. I didn't see that in the OKC game. I think we've generally been playing well since the loss to the Lakers right after the ASG. Our defensive intensity and coordination have turned up a notch. Other than Gordon's loss of consistency from 3, I don't see anything systematically weak in our strategy or execution.

We need to be ready for the Jazz to play a couple of fantastic games like the Thunder did. If we rise to that challenge, we should be able to take one of those games and finish them in 5. But I hope our guys are worrying like you are. Otherwise they might slack off and get caught by surprise.

 

If we can't beat the Jazz then we aren't a championship caliber team and would not have a chance against the warriors anyway.

So no, I'm not worried.

 

I'm a little nervous

We're not the same team from last season but we're also not the same team from earlier this season

Neither are they

It should still play out like last season but one never knows if Gordon regresses again or if Paul will step up like last season.

Paul is clutch in the playoffs though. His only issue is health.

 

I'll think about it if we lose 2 games. We beat them with a starting line up of Faried, Tucker, Ennis, Harden, Gordon. We should respect them, but nerves are not necessary.

 

I was always nervous years past of every playoff game. Not so much last year and this year. I call it the James Harden effect. The dude has cured me of first round anxiety. **** you tracy mclady for giving me the disease to begin with.

 

Philly may now be a bit more anxious about the first round.

 

Capela may not be 100% tomorrow, fighting respiratory infection.

 

You never know what might happen in the playoffs.

But, I probably sound like an arrogant and biased homer fan, but I'm not too nervous.

Playoffs are a lot about matchups. Some teams just matchup better against other teams, and I think that we are not a good matchup for Utah. That's not saying they aren't a good team, I think they would have a reallt good chance to advance against any other team except us or GSW. But I also just think our style of play somewhat neutralizes their defense and that they don't have the offensive firepower to keep up.
The Rockets have been pretty inconsistent this year, have gone on stretches where they go ice cold from 3 but just continue jacking bricks and have let way too many big leads slip away. But they have really turned it on in this last part of the season.

I'm going with Rockets in 5, and probably two of our 4 wins are pretty big blowouts.

 

Man I'm nervous when the play the Lakers in a regular season game... Its called being a fan and loving the Rockets.

 

NOPE. Gentleman's sweep at most

 

The Rockets aren't losing to the Utah Jazz this year. 0% chance. LMAO just stop.

 

Tiny Faried dominated Gobert in the last meeting... I know crazy.. I was surprised when I re-watched the game.

 

Let’s be frank, from 1st seed to 6th seed in the west are all solid teams. The way I see it is if we can’t beat Utah, we definitely don’t have a chance going against GS. As a matter of fact, I wanna see Utah push the rockets a bit so the Rockets can get a bit more toughness going deep in the playoffs.

 

No but this is what we get for choking another key game away.

 

There are no easy matchups in the west, but I'm not concerned about Utah so much as the Rockets themselves. If they have their heads screwed on right, they'll be okay. If they come out looking lazy and not too interested in stuff like defense or rebounding, they might have some trouble.