April 19, 2007 By Tony Mejia CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer No. 4 Utah vs. No. 5 Houston Nuts and bolts: Two squads desperate to be lumped in with the NBA's best battle not to be left behind. 50-50 club: This is the only first-round series in the league to be contested between 50-game winners. Fragile?: Jerry Sloan called his team "fragile" late in the season, citing their inability to handle the adversity of being banged up or missing anyone from the lineup. Blowing huge leads down the stretch, which ultimately ended up costing them the home-court advantage in this series, made for an unfortunate end to an otherwise brilliant season. Frustrated owner Larry Miller even said the Jazz "sucked" last weekend, a remark that drew the ire of veteran Derek Fisher. Yao, Okur and chess: It's going to be interesting to see how often Sloan tries to draw Yao Ming out to the perimeter to defend Mehmet Okur. Meanwhile, Jeff Van Gundy gets to plant Yao in the paint and force-feed him. Neither Okur nor Carlos Boozer can handle him inside. Yao scored 35 points and grabbed 16 rebounds when these teams met on April 1. Don't fool yourself into thinking he can't do that on a nightly basis in this series. AK, O.K.?: Andrei Kirilenko returned from a thumb fracture on Monday and looked like his old self, flying all over the court deflecting passes and altering and blocking shots. It was an encouraging sign for Utah, which badly needs his defense, especially in a series where it lacks a guard who can legitimately match up with Tracy McGrady. T-Mac seeks breakthrough: McGrady has famously never gotten out of the first round of the playoffs in his career, missing out with Toronto, Orlando and two years ago with Houston. He's 0-for-5. Supporting cast under fire: Popular opinion is that the Rockets simply don't have enough surrounding McGrady and Yao to be taken seriously as a championship contender. This is a good series for Rafer Alston and Chuck Hayes to prove otherwise. Van Gundy doesn't need these guys to be stars, but rather, fill roles well. Alston will be asked to take care of the basketball and make life tough for Deron Williams, while Hayes will need to remain active and knock lunch pails with Boozer. If they perform their roles well, Houston advances. How good is this series going to be?: If it's a track meet you want, you should definitely look elsewhere, because these games are going to be played close to the vest, predicated on a plodding, half-court style. There should be plenty of strategy, and I expect multiple games to come down to the final minute. The selection: Houston in 7. T-Mac breaks through, and fading late winds up costing the Jazz dearly. http://www.sportsline.com/nba/story/10137980 --

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