Who will it be during this favorable part of the coming schedule? Team Jeckyl or Team Hyde? Just looking ahead I think the Jazz will be favored in every game until they go to New Orleans on April 8th. In looking at the Nets game last Saturday except for Boozer, the Jazz looked like a tired team especially Williams (great the night before) coming off another crazy road trip. When will the league owners learn? Chartered planes and 5 star hotels aside, this kind of scheduling doesn’t show NBA basketball at its best. They compact the season and drag out the playoffs for one big reason. $$$$$ Shorten training camp by two weeks and add to the season length by those 2 weeks. Back to back is fine but not 3 games in 4 nights or 4 in 5. The NBA is a star driven league and you must show them at their best. And by the way, dump the foul out role, let the top guys play and add a severe penalty if you occur a certain number of fouls. {More on this at another time]
Still think the Jazz are one of the 4 best in the West. If all teams are injury free when the finals start. I like:

1. Lakers with Bynum and Gosol
2. Jazz
3. Spurs
4. Suns as sleeper if Shaq doesn’t fall asleep!