Utah Jazz: Yao-ouch! Rocket man missing

It will be the same two teams owning the same playoff seeds playing on the same Toyota Center court as last year in Houston for Game 1 when the Jazz face the Rockets tonight.

That being said, there is one huge difference.

One 7-foot-6, 310-pound difference in the middle of the Rockets' lineup.

Houston not having All-Star center Yao Ming available changes the complexion of the entire series.

"When Yao is in there, they are kind of an inside-outside team," said Jazz forward Matt Harpring. "Without him, they rely on (Tracy) McGrady more and are more of an outside, drive-and-dish, shoot-the-3 type team. It's a big difference."

Perhaps no one on the Jazz roster will see that difference more than starting center Mehmet Okur, who had the unenviable task of guarding Yao the majority of the time in all seven games last season. Okur earned accolades for his defensive efforts in that series. But, thanks to the energy he had to exert guarding Yao, his offensive effectiveness was reduced.

"Last year I spent all my energy playing defense on big guy, Yao," Okur said. "You have to put your body on him all 48 minutes. He is so big, it's hard to play against him."

Okur still averaged 11 points per game against the Rockets, but that was 6.6 points fewer than his regular season average. In Utah's second playoff series, against the Golden State Warriors, Okur's average was back up to 17.4 points per game.

With Yao out after having surgery on his left foot, Okur will draw the starting defensive assignment against another veteran 7-footer, but Dikembe Mutombo is not much of an offensive threat. Mutombo, in fact, is averaging only three points per game. Then again, the Rockets tend to go small at times now, meaning Okur could end up marking guys like Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes.

"I am going to try to play hard defense on whoever I guard out there," Okur said. "I will bring my A-game defensively."

Meanwhile, Okur became more of a scoring threat the final few weeks of the season and expects to be a bigger part of the offense against the Rockets in this series than he was a year ago in the opening round.

"I should have more energy on offense this time because I am not guarding Yao," Okur said. "I am healthy and I have confidence and my teammates now really believe in me and create open shots for me at the offensive end. I really feel good about my offense right now."