2019 NBA Playoffs: Houston Rockets vs. Utah Jazz preview

Key Question No. 1: Utah’s solid defense or Houston’s explosive offense?

One of the things that makes this opening round series between Houston and Utah so interesting is the style of play that both teams possess.

For the Rockets, they are clearly an offense-heavy team that has the ability to explode and run away with a game at any moment.

For the Jazz, they are nearly the opposite, although they have the capability to turn things up on the offensive end as well — and will need to do so often in this series. Utah, however, contains a solid defensive group, which will be interesting to watch square up against the likes of Houston.

During the regular season, Houston ranked second in the NBA in offensive rating with a mark of 115.5. A bulk of the Rockets’ offense has come from 3-point range this year, leading the NBA with 42.5 percent of their scoring coming from behind the arc.

Utah, on the other hand, has once again displayed this year that it is one of the top defensive teams in the entire league, recording a defensive rating of 105.7 to rank second-best in the NBA.

Although the Jazz ranked 15th in offensive rating (110.9) and 17th in points per game (111.7), they have been able to hold opponents to 106.5 points per game, which ranked fourth-best in the NBA during the regular season.

There’s no question Houston and Utah employ different styles of play and have had the ability to control any given game on one side of the floor. The biggest question and biggest key as this series takes place is which team’s strength will overpower the other to ultimately come away with the victory.