There was the post-game cable television interview, followed by a stop in the trainer's room and then the shower. Finally, Karl Malone came zig-zagging through a crowd of reporters in the locker room, looking for his seat.
"The Big Cheese is here," announced Jazz guard John Stockton with a wide smile. "So just step back."Four days after being annihilated by a cloudburst of 3-point shots in Salt Lake City, the Jazz were back in good humor and in control of their playoff series with Houston. No more nightmares of Kenny Smith, dropping threes from the sky. No more Robert Horry and Clyde Drexler flicking them in from outside the arc. No more Rocket-launchings.
"We got suckered into a 3-point game the other day," said Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek.
But by the time Wednesday night rolled around, the Jazz were starting to feel their pulses once again. The Saturday Night Fever that had lured them into trying to trade long shots with the team that takes more treys than anyone in the NBA had passed.
"To start off with," observed Malone, "we didn't give up 140 points."
Indeed, Wednesday's 95-82 win had the Jazz's fingerprints all over it from the start. Three minutes into the game, the teams were plodding along tied 3-3. They were on pace to end the game tied at 48. By comparison, the first three minutes of last Saturday's game and the Rockets were leading 12-4.
"We came out early with a lot of intensity and kept it up for the game," said Jazz forward Antoine Carr.
After giving up an NBA-record 19 3-pointers last weekend, the Jazz spent the ensuing four days working on - surprise! - stopping the trey. If they were going to lose, it wasn't going to be with the Rockets throwing them in from Galveston. Presumably, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan spent the four days reminding the team what irrational things he might do - say, sending them all to Rapid City - if they turned in another such night.
"I don't even want to talk about that. I don't," said Malone.
Whatever Sloan said, it sunk in. When Houston's Clyde Drexler got the ball at the onset, Hornacek was on him like a sunburn. Drexler thought about going left but before he could make a move, Hornacek was bumping him with his chest. He considered going right but, sure enough, Hornacek was bellying up against him on that side, as well.
As for going over the top, well, the Rockets couldn't so much as speculate on putting up a three without the view being obliterated by a purple jersey. Like talk shows and late night infomercials, the Jazz were on every channel.
"Right from the get-go, they came right at us," said Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich.
Soon enough, it was obvious it would be a Jazz-type game. The kind of game that makes network television producers nervous and viewers yawn. A game of strategy and pace rather than a track meet. A bumpy dirt-road ride in a pickup rather than a spin in the Ferrari.
"You're not going to have a chance to win if you don't play defense," said Sloan stoutly.
The prospect of the Jazz coming on like Mike Wallace, of course, couldn't have surprised the Rockets. The Jazz built their reputation on unrelenting defense over the years and this was an opportune time to get back in form. But what the Rockets hadn't figured on entirely came in the form of a David Benoit outburst of treys.
With 10:44 left in the half, Benoit put up a perimeter shot that cut the Rockets' lead from five to two. Then as the half closed in, Benoit pumped in two more as the Jazz lead got as high as nine. He finished the half with 14 points, which was also his total for the night. Nevertheless, the points came at a crucial time, beginning when the Rockets appeared to be taking control of the game.
"I just knocked the shots down I should make," deferred Benoit.
Though the Jazz lead got as high as 14 in the third quarter, the Rockets rumbled back and were still behind by only three with 5:52 left. But suddenly the Rockets couldn't throw a beach ball in a bathtub, and the Jazz were pulling away. Houston's 19-for-26 night from the outside on Saturday had evolved into a 7-for-17 night on Wednesday. Big Mo had taken up residence with the Jazz.
"That's the way it goes," said Hornacek. "In the playoffs you can't worry about momentum . . . you don't see a whole lot of sweeps, so every time there's a game, the momentum swings."
The Jazz hadn't played especially well on offense and they'd made only 14 of 24 free throws. But they did make sure that every time the Rockets looked up, there was always someone staring back.