Feeling tense, nervous, wired up, like you just chugged a six-pack of Mountain Dew? Got a feeling in your stomach that once seemed like euphoria but now feels like a lump of wax? Do you find your moods shifting like the sands?

That's because it's the playoffs, where every game has a life of its own. One day you're up, one day you're down, and some days you wonder why you even care. Remember that outdated bottle of sedatives in the medicine cabinet? Don't throw it away yet.

It's been four years since the Jazz were in the playoffs, and face it, you probably forgot how much this mattered. The mood in each playoff city changes like the weather, only faster. A couple of days ago, for instance, things looked bright for the Jazz in their first-round series with Houston. They had erased an 0-2 deficit and the Rockets were on the run, looking a bit disconcerted.

Rockets' center Yao Ming even admitted that the Jazz seemed a lot closer to winning in Houston than the other way around. That's probably still true. In the three games in Houston, the Jazz have led by nine in two games and 10 in the other. The Rockets never led by more than five in Salt Lake and once fell behind by 25.

For a considerable part of Monday's game, the Jazz appeared headed for a pivotal win. Was this the beginning of the end for the Rockets? Of course not. Just a market correction. The Rockets retook the series lead, and the teams are now back in Salt Lake for Thursday's Game 6.

Don't forget to bring your fidget stones and stress oils. You're going to need them.

Much as NBA players don't like to admit it, they, too, get caught up in the mood swings of the postseason. Otherwise, they wouldn't say things like this: "How much do you want to play?"

The aforementioned quote was compliments of Houston's big-as-a-tree center Yao, following Utah's Game 4 win in Salt Lake. It wasn't actually a question, it was a challenge.

Turned out they apparently did want to play, because they came back to win.

But Houston isn't the only team letting the rhetoric fly.

Andrei Kirilenko — likeable, agreeable, syntax-challenged Andrei — told media this week that he would go to almost any length to get the job done — including going Mike Tyson (or Count Dracula, if there's a difference) on an opponent.

"I will bite a throat for my teammates," he said.

How about just making a few more jumpers?

For emphasis, he added, "I will bite hard. I will be all over anybody."

Paging Tree Rollins.