(My Sportsbook) - The Northwest Division-champion Utah Jazz and the Houston Rockets meet for the second straight year in the first round of the NBA playoffs, as the teams battle in Game 1 tonight at the Toyota Center.

Utah defeated the Rockets in seven games in last year's postseason. Houston won the first two games of the set, and ended up losing Game 7, 103-99, at the Toyota Center.

There is a lot more playoff history between the Jazz and Rockets. This is the seventh time in the postseason that the teams will square off.

Houston defeated Utah in the first round of the postseason in 1995 and in the 1994 West finals. The Jazz knocked out the Rockets in the opening round of 1985 and 1998 and in the 1997 conference finals.

Game 2 of this best-of-seven series is scheduled for Monday at the Toyota Center.

The Jazz captured the Northwest Division crown and are the fourth seed in the West, while Houston is No. 5 and finished in third place in the Southwest Division. The Rockets own home-court advantage in this series since they had a better regular-season record than Utah.

During the regular season, the Jazz were 2-1 against Houston. The teams split a pair of games at Utah, while the Jazz knocked off the Rockets, 97-89, on January 27 at the Toyota Center.

The Jazz are in the playoffs for the second straight year. They made a nice run during last year's postseason, as they advanced to the West finals and were eliminated by the eventual NBA champion San Antonio Spurs in five games.

Utah won its second straight Northwest Division crown and was led by All-Star forward Carlos Boozer and point guard Deron Williams. Boozer posted team-highs in points (21.1 ppg) and rebounds (10.4 rpg), while Williams, who was second on the team in scoring (18.8 ppg), dished out a club-best 10.5 assists per game.

Boozer and Williams have emerged as two of the top players at their positions, and have developed into franchise players. One-time All-Star Mehmet Okur had a strong second half of the season and has been a key to Utah's success.

Shooting guard Ronnie Brewer and athletic forward Andrei Kirilenko had productive seasons, while sharp-shooting Kyle Korver, who was acquired in a trade from Philadelphia during the season, is instant offense off the bench. veteran Matt Harpring and forward Paul Millsap played their roles very well and helped the Jazz get back to the top of the division and conference.

Head coach Jerry Sloan has guided the Jazz to the playoffs for the 17th time during his tenure with the club. Sloan, who has been general on the Utah bench since the 1988-89 campaign, is 87-88 all-time in the playoffs, 85-84 with the Jazz.

The last time the Jazz were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs was in 2003, when they were knocked out by the Sacramento Kings in five games, 4-1.

The Rockets are also in the playoffs for the second straight year, and will try to win their first series since 1997. They defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games, 4-3, in the West semis, before losing to the Jazz in the conference finals, 4-2.

Houston is going to have to win in the postseason without All-Star center Yao Ming, who last played on February 24. Yao has been sidelined with a stress fracture in his left foot and underwent surgery on the injury. Yao averaged 22.0 points and 10.8 rebounds in 55 games this season for the Rockets, and shot 50.7 percent from the floor.

Tracy McGrady, who has not been on the winning side in an NBA playoff series (0-6), stepped up in Yao's absence and had a productive season. He posted 21.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and a team-best 5.9 assists per game for Houston, which won a historic 22 straight games from January 29 to March 16.

Point guard Rafer Alston also raised his game, and ended the campaign with averages of 13.1 points and 5.3 assists. He shot 35.1 percent from beyond the arc and was clutch during the winning streak and at different times during the season.

Alston is expected to miss at least the first two games of the series with a strained right hamstring.

Head coach Rick Adelman did an excellent job during his first season on the Houston bench. Adelman, who guided the Kings to three Pacific Division titles in eight seasons with Sacramento, is 70-68 all-time in the postseason. He replaced Jeff Van Gundy, whose four-year tenure came to an end after the Rockets were eliminated by the Jazz in seven games in the first round of the 2007 playoffs.

Adelman, who led Portland to the NBA Finals twice (1990, 1992) got the most out his club. Rookies Luis Scola and Carl Landry, defensive stopper Shane Battier, who deserves serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year, and 35-year-old Bobby Jackson, who was acquired from New Orleans at the trade deadline, all played key roles in Houston's success at a crucial time of the season.

Utah was 17-24 on the road this season, while Houston was 31-10 at home.