Greetings from Houston.

Not sure if this was a sign, but as I walked to the Toyota Center today there is an energy company with a digital board reading. It gives the temperature, the time, and then a message and today’s was, “Three Down One to go.” This was next to the Toyota Center so I thought it was strange. Maybe it is a bit of foreshadowing.

I watched the morning shootarounds of both the Rockets and the Jazz. If you are expecting a bunch of up tight, super serious athletes, you would have been greatly disappointed.

At the Jazz shootaround, the rookies Almond and Fesenko had to sing Jason Hart happy birthday. It wasn’t good. The Rockets play a free throw shooting game that leads to uproarious laughter, arguing, and taunting. Not any different than any 5 people on the play ground.

The talk was all about the comments by Rockets Head Coach Rick Adelman, and the physical play. Only Tracy McGrady was willing to say it was really physical. Matt Harpring said it was a good video for text book defense.

Inside it all, there is an awful lot of respect from both teams to their opponent.

Looking toward Game 5 tonight, and the chance for the Jazz to close out the series to face the LA Lakers, these are my four keys to the game:

1. Get Boozer going early

In the first quarter of the series, Boozer is just 7 of 19 from the field. The real issue is he is not hitting his mid-range jumper. He is 3 for 11 on shots outside of 10 feet. Of his seven field goals in the first quarter of games, 3 of them are off follow ups on the offensive glass.

Despite his age, Dikembe Mutombo is still one of the most effective defensive players in the NBA. Yesterday on my radio show, Locked on Sports 3 to 6 PM on 1320 K-Fan, both former NBA Coaches of the Year Rick Carlisle and Tom Nissalke, talked about how tough the match-up for Boozer is with the length of Mutombo, followed by the physical athleticism of Chuck Hayes and Carl Landry.

2. Non Paint Two’s Early

I believe we have mentioned this a few times already. The Rockets goal is to make the opponent shoot non-paint two’s, shots that aren’t in the paint, or from the three point range.

Early in each game the Jazz have fallen into that trap. The Jazz have taken at least 8 field goal attempts as non-paint two’s in the first quarter of games 1-4. They have not taken that many in any other quarter.

Moreover, the Jazz have been very unsuccessful with those shots. They are a combined 10 for 38 in the first quarter on non-paint twos.

3. Start well

All of these are intertwined. The starts have been very important in this series. The team that has lead after the first quarter has won each game. The team that has taken the largest lead in the first half has won each game. As crazy as it sounds, the team leading at around the 6:00 mark of the 1st Quarter has won each game.

Game 1:Jazz up 11-6

Game 2:Jazz lead 21-13

Game 3:Rockets lead 16-10

Game 4:Jazz lead 18-11

4. Late Game Stud vs. Dud

For all the signs that show that, the early part of the game matters, however, it feels as though end of game heroics are determining this series. Most of the talk has been about the inability of Tracy McGrady to hit shots late in the game. He went 0 for 7 in both Games 1 and 2, and only attempted 1 shot in Game 4. He is 3 of 16 from the field in the 4th Quarter.

On the flip side, Deron Williams has been outstanding. In the 4th Quarter of this series, Williams has 10 for 18 from the field. In the three wins, he has been 9 of 14 from the field in the 4th Quarter.

Have fun watching the game tonight. It is on KJZZ-14 and on HD with Craig and Ron, and the Great Hot Rod is calling the game on 1320 K-Fan.