2008 NBA Playoffs

Well everyone the Playoffs are finally here! Everyone Excited? Well if not you should be things are pretty intense this year! This is the best time of the year even better then Christmas! For those of you who don't know the Jazz finished 4th in the western conference with a 54-28 record. The Jazz had the best record at home in the NBA with 34 wins 24 losses. I believe that Utah has a very good chance of getting their first Title this year, and I am not the only one. According to John Hollinger of ESPN the Jazz have very good odds of winning. Here is what he has to say about it.

2. Why are the Playoff Odds so high on Utah?
There's a tendency to overreact to What Just Happened, so Utah's stinker against San Antonio on Wednesday night probably increased everyone's doubts about this team.
Nonetheless, the Power Rankings have Utah as the league's second-best team, and the Playoff Odds give them the best chance of winning the West at 31.0 perecnt.
The Jazz played extremely well down the stretch. Even with the meltdown in San Antonio included, over the last quarter of the season the Jazz had an offensive efficiency rating of 116.0 -- that dwarfs the Suns' league-leading mark of 111.2. To put that into context, if they had done it for a full season, the Jazz would have been by far the best offensive team of all time.
Utah went 37-12 after Jan. 1, and the number of blowout wins over quality teams is staggering. The Jazz beat the Celtics by 18 in Boston -- the Celtics' worst loss of the season anywhere. The Jazz beat New Orleans by 28, and then again by 22 -- two of the Hornets' three worst defeats of the year. They beat San Antonio by 26 and the Lakers by 24 -- for each, their worst loss of the season. They beat Phoenix by 22 and beat Denver by 27 ... twice.
Overall, Utah won an astounding 18 games by more than 20 points. In contrast, the Jazz didn't lose a single game by more than 20 points all season ... until Wednesday night in San Antonio. And given their questionable motivation in that game and Deron Williams' trouble with a bruised buttock, it's hard for me to hold that against them much when we have 81 games of evidence that they're the best pick in a compacted Western pack.

So go Jazz! Happy and Merry Playoffs everyone! And see you in Round 2!