The Utah Jazz capped a memorable 1996-97 regular season - a franchise record 64 wins, a torrid second half of the season, a team-best 38 home wins and a Midwest Division championship - with a series of firsts going into the 1997 NBA Playoffs.
The lists include: a first-ever No. 1 seeding in the Western Conference playoffs and accompanying homecourt advantage; a first-ever playoff series sweep; a first-ever Western Conference championship; and a first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.For the Utah Jazz, here's how the West was won:
Opening round
Jazz vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Game 1 - Jazz 106, Clippers 86: Bodies fly at the Delta Center, and the Jazz respond by shedding their nice-guy image. Highlights of the physical play include a tumble-and-tangle routine between Utah guard John Stockton and L.A. banger Charles Outlaw, followed by Outlaw being called for a foul when his face collided with a Karl Malone elbow.
Malone benefits from the physical play, leading all players with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Six other Jazz teammates finish in double-figure scoring, including John Stockton (13 points and 17 assists) and Bryon Russell (16 points, six boards, two steals and two assists).
Game 2 - Jazz 105, Clippers 99: Starters Russell, Jeff Hornacek and Greg Ostertag combine for 5-of-19 shooting and 17 total points, while the Jazz blow an entire 16-point lead in less than eight minutes. And Malone misses his first four shots - three layups and a 5-footer.
But Utah triumphs on sheer talent, keeping the Clippers still winless in the Delta Center. The Mailman scores 12 of his next 21 shots and goes 14-of-19 from the line for 39 points and 11 rebounds. Stockton adds 18 points, while Hornacek and Antoine Carr contribute 11 each.
Game 3 - Jazz 105, Clippers 92: How sweep it is! The Jazz clinch the best-of-five series in the minimum three for Utah's first-ever playoff sweep, and it comes on torrid shooting early in the game at the L.A. Sports Arena.
The Jazz connect on 14 of their first 16 attempts, while Hornacek is perfect on his first seven and finishes 9-of-12 for a game-high 28 points. Malone makes all 10 FT attempts and ends with 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Stockton chips in with 12 points and 13 assists.
Western Conference semifinals
Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Game 1 - Jazz 93, Lakers 77: While the host Jazz have a week to prepare for the second round, the Lakers make a quick turnaround after their tough opening series against Portland. And L.A. looks tired, averaging just 34 percent shooting and scoring just 17 points a period over the final three quarters.
Malone scores a team-high 23 points, but makes only 9-of-21 from the floor and his 5-of-10 free-throw shooting representative of the team's 58.8 percent from the line. Utah's bench outscores L.A.'s 33-9, with Chris Morris keying a second-quarter surge with a pair of 3s.
Game 2 - Jazz 103, L.A. Lakers 101 : The difference comes in the final seconds, as Utah's Carr cans a pair of free throws with 2.1 seconds to play, while L.A.'s Nick Van Exel is stripped of the ball by Malone on a desperation heave inside half court at the buzzer. TV replays suggest the Mailman got as much arm as leather, but no call was afforded L.A., despite its pleas.
Malone finishes with 31 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, while Hornacek adds 21 points, eight boards and seven dishes. Utah survives 11-of-18 3-point shooting by the visiting Lakers, including Robert Horry's perfect 7-of-7 barrage of treys.
Game 3 - Lakers 104, Jazz 84: The good news - Hornacek shoots 9-of-14 from the floor for a game-high 26 points. The bad news - the rest of the Jazz go cold, as Stockton misses all six shots, Russell manages 2-of-11 shooting, and Malone needs 20 tries to make his two field goals.
Despite the shooting woes, bundles of first-half free throws by the visiting Jazz and Hornacek's shooting - including six straight in the third - have Utah within six early in the second half. But more cold spells mean the Jazz finish with a 28.8 percent shooting percentage.
Game 4 - Jazz 110, Lakers 95: To shake off the Game 3 woes, Russell and Malone benefit from rental-bike rides along the beach with teammates Morris and Shandon Anderson. After combining for 4-of-31 shooting in the previous game, Malone and Russell pedal their way to major performances at the Forum, as Utah survives a 34-point Shaq attaq.
Russell nets a career-best 29 points and hits 4-of-9 on 3s, while Malone's NBA playoff record 18-of-18 shooting from the line is just a part of his game-best 42 points. The Mailman scores 26 in the second half and 12 of the Jazz's 14 points in one fourth-quarter stretch.
Game 5 - Jazz 98, Lakers 93 : Ostertag scores his nickname - "The Big `O' " - in points but still manages to be a major contributor with four offensive rebounds, 10 total boards and all nine of the Jazz's blocked shots as Utah clinches the series in the Delta Center.
Malone delivers another Mailman-type outing with 32 points and 20 rebounds. Russell adds 22 points, while Stockton's 24 points include the veteran point guard scoring nine of Utah's final 11 in regulation.
Western Conference Finals
Jazz vs. Houston Rockets
Game 1 - Jazz 101, Rockets 86: In a series that features five Dream Teamers and 10 percent of the NBA's all-time 50-year team (Stockton, Malone and the Houston trio of Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler), the Delta Center turns into amateur hour. Utah reserves Greg Foster and Anderson combine for 20 points and nine rebounds and help key the Jazz's surges.
Handed the MVP trophy in pregame ceremonies, Malone leads Utah with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Hornacek adds 19 points, Stockton 16 points and 13 assists, Ostertag eight points and 10 boards and Anderson 11 points.
Game 2 - Jazz 104, Rockets 92: Houston trots out its whine list: the Jazz play dirty, take cheap shots, set illegal moving screens. The Rockets instead should focus on shooting (36.5 percent) and rebounding (outboarded 56-37, including a 20-4 deficit in the first quarter). Outrebounded by all Jazz starters, Olajuwon had 0 boards at halftime, five fewer than Stockton.
Stockton flirts with a triple-double - a team-high 26 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds - and draws three Barkley fouls and a postgame threat with his screens. Malone adds 24 points, Hornacek 17, Russell 14 and the bench 23.
Game 3 - Rockets 118, Jazz 100: A Jazz nemesis from seasons past, veteran reserve forward Eddie Johnson explodes for 31 points to lead Houston at home in the Summit. Johnson nails 12-of-17 shots, including 5-of-8 from the 3-point line.
Malone has his best shooting game so far in the series, making 9-of-14 shots for 21 points and just six rebounds, while power forward peer Barkley totaled 19 and 16, respectively.
Game 4 - Rockets 95, Jazz 92: Johnson finds another way to kill the Jazz, as Houston's hired gun swishes a long, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to help the Rockets even the series at 2-all. Houston's triumph at the Summit means the home team has held serve so far through the first four games.
Other Utah disappointments: Bryon Russell misses an open 3-point attempt on the Jazz's final possession, and Karl Malone - after complaining mildly that he had not had enough shots in Game 3 - shoots 10-of-28 from the floor. He misses 12 shots in the paint, five being layups.
Game 5 - Jazz 96, Rockets 91: After woeful shooting in Game 4 and then missing his first three shots of Game 5, Malone returns with a night befitting his MVP title - 29 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and several key plays during the fourth-quarter stretch at the Delta Center.
Utah outlasts a 33-point, 10-rebound outing by Olajuwon in a game described by both sides as the finest of the series so far. Stockton is one of five other Jazz players in double figures, finishing with 17 points.
Game 6 - Jazz 103, Rockets 100: Stockton's buzzer-beating 3-pointer comes off an in-bounds play starting with 2.8 seconds left in a tie game. Malone's snuggle-up screen against Clyde Drexler helps free up Stockton's game-winner jumper from straightaway above the key (see more on Utah's thrilling series-clinching victory throughout this section).
The Jazz claim a playoff series on the road for the first time in 12 years of trying and earn a first-ever trip to the NBA finals - at the expense of Houston, which had eliminated Utah twice in the past three postseasons.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
How the Jazz won
Opening round
Jazz vs. Los Angeles Clippers
Jazz 106, Clippers 86
Jazz 105, Clippers 99
Jazz 105, Clippers 92
Western Conference semifinals
Jazz vs. Los Angeles Lakers
Jazz 93, Lakers 77
Jazz 103, L.A. Lakers 101
Lakers 104, Jazz 84
Jazz 110, Lakers 95
Jazz 98, Lakers 93
Western Conference Finals
Jazz vs. Houston Rockets
Jazz 101, Rockets 86
Jazz 104, Rockets 92
Rockets 118, Jazz 100
Rockets 95, Jazz 92
Jazz 96, Rockets 91
Jazz 103, Rockets 100