The jazz knows that they are not favored in the series against the Rockets, but they like to be the underdogs

Houston • Jazz head coach Quin Snyder did the research.

"When you analyze, of the 42 people I could find who chose a person in this series, it is the one who chose us that requires you to do a lot of analysis. Otherwise, you have to ignore the analysis, "said Snyder after the preparation session at the jazz tournament in preparation for Sunday night's first game against the Houston Rockets.

Snyder is right: the Jazz are heavy outsiders. Of ESPN's 20 analysts, only one chose Jazz. The Tribune has chosen the Rockets in six games. Betting $ 100 on a Jazz Series will earn you $ 270 on some sports betting, according to BetOnline.

"We like it, to be honest, we do not really care what anyone thinks, we know we're a good team, we've obviously gone back to seed 5, but yes, that's what he is, "said Joe Ingles. [and what] comes with, of course, we start on the road, and our goal is to win a match or two. "

The upheavals on the roads are not uncommon during the first weekend of the playoffs of the NBA. Three of the four games played on Saturday night included surprising defeats for the home teams, including the Spurs against the Nuggets, Magic against the Raptors and the Nets winning the first game against the Sixers.

"We'll see what happens," Ingles said. "We will be ready to compete, we will be ready to play, and we do not care about the little stories you write."

Looking at the statistical narrative of the band between these two teams, the most notable advantage of Jazz may be in the foreground. Maybe thanks to their defense, the Rockets are just the 28th NBA team to get defensive rebounds.

And whether or not the Rockets get the rebound turns out to be an important indicator of their win or not. According to CleaningTheGlass, the Rockets were at 26-3 when opponents had an offensive rebound rate of less than 25%, but only 20-21 when opponents captured more than 30% of theirs.

This is an opportunity for the Jazz, which ranked 13th in the offensive rebel team. This is almost entirely due to the efforts of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors when he occupies the central position. In general, the Jazz engages everyone in the transition defense as soon as they shoot the ball.

"The problem is that if you engage too much in the offensive glass, they come out in transition, they get those three points and Capela on the track," Snyder said, "we have to go, we have to go strong, and we have to also be very urgent to come back so that it does not hurt us to go the other way. "

But after the change of player in Houston, they will probably have a smaller player to keep the Jazz centers. That's when Jazz can enjoy it.

"That's what we're talking about, it's part of the game plan. Obviously, these guys are going from one point to another and can sometimes have Chris Paul or Austin Rivers on our five men, "said Jae Crowder. "We just want to take full advantage of this situation and make sure that our five players go every time to fall and try to get a second chance."

The rebound situation is not a major weakness for the Rockets: as Snyder points out, the defense was among the top five defensives since the break of the All-Star game. But it's a way for the Jazz to have an edge over Houston: "Of course, every time you can get extra goods, it's something you want to try to do," said Snyder.