Utah in key race to decide home court for first round

	The Jazz are rolling to a division title despite Andrei Kirilenko's offensive struggles. John W. McDonough/SI
	MAILBAG Marty Burns will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

The Mavs play at Phoenix on Sunday afternoon in a matchup of the teams with the best records. But it's no April Fools' joke to suggest that it won't be the biggest game on the NBA slate that day. The Jazz-Rockets contest in Houston could feature even greater playoff intensity.

Utah and Houston appear destined for a 4-5 first-round clash in the upcoming Western Conference playoffs. As of Thursday the Jazz (47-24) were slightly ahead of the Rockets (46-26) in the standings, meaning Utah would get home court advantage if the season were to end today.

Why is it a big deal?

Because Utah desperately wants to hold on to home court. The Jazz are 29-7 at Energy Solutions Arena, and they know that their physical, energetic style carries over better at home. A victory Sunday in Houston would give the Jazz an extra game in the standings and the all-important tiebreaker edge (the teams meet for the final time April 18 at Utah).

The Jazz, by the way, wouldn't have had to worry about this if the NBA had not tweaked its seeding system this year. Under the old system, Utah would have been guaranteed the No. 3 seed (and a likely playoff matchup with either the Lakers or Nuggets) by virtue of winning the Northwest Division. Now the Jazz will be No. 4 or No. 5 and face the much tougher Rockets.

How have the Jazz been able to stay among the top teams in the league despite Andrei Kirilenko's offensive struggles this season? I mean, if somebody had told you before the season that AK-47 would be averaging less than 10 points a game and the Jazz would still be at the top, would you have believed it?
-- T. Maher, New York City

Utah has managed to survive Kirilenko's subpar campaign mainly because of Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams. Nobody knew if Boozer was going to stay healthy and if Williams was going to continue to build on his strong showing at the end of his rookie campaign. Throw in Mehmet Okur's clutch shooting, Matt Harpring's all-around play and coach Jerry Sloan's ability to keep them fighting through picks and running that precision system, and it adds up. Still, I think the Jazz are wise to put a premium on securing home court. Their intensity will be matched by foes in the postseason; they might need that home crowd and friendly officiating.

David Stern can cement his place at the head of forward-thinking commissioners by making the playoffs 16 teams, no East/West boundaries, every round adjusted so the team with the best regular-season record plays the team with the worst (No. 2 vs. No. 15, etc.). Ultimately, the fan gets to see the better teams remaining at the end, rather than one East team that HAS to be present in the Finals. Sure, upsets will still happen, but this approach ensures that everyone has to get through the best to get to the Finals. Any chance of Stern ignoring East/West tradition and thinking of the fan first?
-- Rick Oberndorf, Glendale, Calif.

No, and I can't say I blame him. While it might be more fair if the teams could be reseeded in each round regardless of conference, it would be a nightmare in terms of logistics (i.e, West Coast teams having to zigzag back and forth across the country to play East Coast teams, and vice versa) and TV concerns. The bottom line is the NBA playoffs always seem to produce a legitimate champion. If two top teams meet in an earlier round -- like the Spurs and Mavs last year -- it just makes that round that much more exciting.