Rockets-Jazz rivalry
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During the 1990s, the Houston Rockets, led by dominant center Hakeem Olajuwon, and the Utah Jazz, led by the pick and roll duo of Karl Malone and John Stockton, were playoff powers in the Midwest Division. Both teams faced each other four times in the NBA Playoffs during the decade. In all four of those instances, the winner was the eventual Western Conference Champion and finalist in the NBA Finals.
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[edit] The Dream, Stock, and The Mailman arrive
The major players of both squads, Olajuwon, Malone, and Stockton, were all drafted in the mid 1980s, an era in which many other great players were drafted, mostly in the same years as each other. Hakeem Olajuwon, who led the University of Houston's "Phi Slamma Jamma" squad to three Final Four appearances, was drafted first overall by Houston in 1984. John Stockton, on the other hand, was drafted sixteenth by Utah from Gonzaga in the same year and was relatively unknown at the time. The Jazz would pull off another draft steal when they selected Karl Malone thirteenth overall from Louisiana Tech the next year.
The first meeting in the playoffs between the Rockets and the Jazz was in the 1985 NBA Playoffs. Houston, led by its "Twin Towers" of Ralph Sampson and Olajuwon, ammassed a 48-34 record in 1984-1985, earning a second place finish in the Midwest Division and the third seed in the playoffs. Utah, tied for 4th in the Midwest with San Antonio, wound up as the sixth seed, reaching the postseason for only the second time in franchise history. Utah, with Stockton, Adrian Dantley, and shot blocking center Mark Eaton (won the shotblocking title and set all-time league records for total blocks (456) and blocks per game (5.56)), would defeat Houston and its Twin Towers in five games despite losing Eaton to an injured right knee. Nothing was made of this matchup at the time, but it would prove to be a foreshadowing of years to come.
[edit] 1994 Western Conference Finals
The two teams met in their first major clash with each other in the 1994 NBA Playoffs. Hakeem Olajuwon was widely considered not only the best post player in the league during an era of great centers (of which Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Alonzo Mourning were the only contemporaries capable of matching him) but, ever since Michael Jordan's first retirement from the NBA, the best player in the league, winning both the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and his second consecutive NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award for the 1993-1994 season. Along with Otis Thorpe, Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell, Robert Horry, Mario Elie, and Sam Cassell, the Houston Rockets proved to be a formidable force in the Western Conference, winning the Midwest Division title with a record of 58-24. As the second seed in the Western Conference, the Rockets ousted the Clyde Drexler-led Portland Trail Blazers, three games to one, but ran into trouble with Charles Barkley's Phoenix Suns, who won the first two games at Houston. The Rockets would persist to eventually win the series, four games to three.
The Utah Jazz, with their established duo of Karl Malone (who finished fifth in the league with 25.2 points per game and topped 19,000 career points to move into 25th place on the all-time list) and John Stockton (who led the league in assists for the seventh straight season with 12.6 assists per game) and the pick and roll offence, also had Jeff Hornacek (acquired in a trade with Philadelphia for Jeff Malone), veteran forward Tom Chambers, and center Felton Spencer to compliment the two leaders. The team posed a challenge to the Rockets for the Midwest Division title when it won ten straight games from late February to early March and then eight of nine games to finish the season at a record of 53-29. Utah defeated San Antonio in three games to one, but received a scare from the Denver Nuggets (the eighth seed that upset first-seeded Seattle in the first round) when a 3-0 series lead for the Jazz evaporated into a 3-3 series tie. The Jazz advance to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three years to face Houston.
The Rockets swept the first two games at Houston, then both teams split the two games at the Delta Center at Salt Lake City with the Jazz winning the first of the two. The fifth game was held in Houston on May 31, 1994. The Rockets hit eight three-pointers in the first three quarters to build a 24-point lead, but the Utah Jazz mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter, cutting the lead to eight. Robert Horry and Hakeem Olajuwon made clutch shots down the stretch to win it for the Rockets, 94-83, claiming the Western Conference title and sending the Rockets to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1986. The Rockets would continue on to win the championship against Olajuwon's old college rival, Patrick Ewing, and the New York Knicks in a grueling seven game series.
[edit] 1995 NBA Playoffs, First Round
The next year, the two rivals faced off again, this time in the first round of the 1995 NBA Playoffs. Houston struggled throughout much of the 1994-1995 season, finishing with a record of 47-35 for the sixth seed in the West. On Februrary 14, 1995, the Rockets unexpectedly traded forward Otis Thorpe to the Portland Trail Blazers for guard Clyde Drexler and forward Tracy Murray. Carl Herrera gets injured forcing him to miss most of the second half of the season and the entire postseason leaving the power forward position vulnerable. The addition of Drexler into the starting lineup made former starting shooting guard Vernon Maxwell frustrated enough to take a leave of absence. These issues provided fuel for critics of the Thorpe-Drexler deal.
The Jazz, on the other hand, ended the season on a high note with a record of 60-22, then a franchise record thanks partly to a 15-game winning streak on the road in December and January, the second-longest such streak in NBA history. The starting five of Malone, Stockton, Hornacek, David Benoit, and Felton Spencer, was solid, and the bench possessed key contributors in Adam Keefe, Antoine Carr, James Donaldson, Tom Chambers, and Blue Edwards. The major setback came on January 13, when Spencer suffered a torn left Achilles tendon, which took him out for the rest of the season and the entire postseason. Spencer was not an all-star, but he was still crucial to the Jazz's championship chances because he was a big body who could hold his own against the great centers in the Western Conference, especially against Hakeem Olajuwon. With the second best record in the Midwest Division to the San Antonio Spurs, the Jazz ended up with the third seed in the West.
The Jazz barely win the first game in the Delta Center 102-100, but the Rockets stun the Jazz in Game 2 140-126 for a split in Utah. The series moves on to Houston, where the Jazz prevail 95-82, going up in the series 2-1 over Houston. The Rockets regroup to win Game 4 123-106 to force a Game 5 at the Delta Center. In a tightly fought contest, the Houston Rockets emerge victorious over the Utah Jazz 95-91, eliminating the Jazz for the second straight year. The Rockets would go on to repeat as champions, becoming the lowest-seeded team to win the championship.
[edit] 1997 Western Conference Finals
The two clubs met again in the 1997 NBA Playoffs, this time in the Western Conference Finals. For the first time in franchise history, Utah finishes as the top Western Conference team with a 64-18 record (the best in franchise history) and storm past both the Clippers and Lakers before meeting Houston.
An off-season trade with Phoenix gave the Rockets Charles Barkley for Sam Cassell, Chucky Brown, Mark Bryant, and Robert Horry. Matt Maloney manned the point as the only first-year player to start in all 82 games. Other key acquisitions included veterans Kevin Willis, Sedale Threatt and Eddie Johnson to provide an already potent Rockets starting lineup a deep bench. The Rockets would finish second in both the Midwest Division and the Western Conference with a 57-25 record and the third seed. The Rockets sweept the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round and then survived a seven-game series with the Seattle SuperSonics in the Western Cenference Semifinals, avenging last year's sweep. The Rockets advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where the Utah Jazz was waiting.
Utah won the first two games at home in the Delta Center, while the Rockets responded at home with wins in games 3 and 4, thanks to the heroics of Eddie Johnson, who scored 31 points off the bench in Game 3 and hit a buzzer-beating, game-winning three-pointer in Game 4 to even the series at 2-2. The Jazz won Game 5 at home, setting the stage for Game 6. John Stockton scores 15 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to help the Jazz claw back from a 12-point deficit, including his most heroic effort at the final buzzer. After tying the game in the final minute, with time for one final offensive play, Bryon Russell made the inbounds pass to Stockton, Karl Malone set the pick, which isolated Matt Maloney from Stockton, forcing Malone's man, Charles Barkley, to try to guard Stockton. Sir Charles manages to get a hand in Stockton's face to contest the shot, but Stockton buries the three-point basket. This spectacular winning play was performed off of the Utah Jazz's most everyday play: the pick and roll. Stockton's game-winning three-pointer gave the Jazz a 103-100 victory over the Houston Rockets and sent them on their first ever trip to the NBA Finals, where they would bow out to the Chicago Bulls.
[edit] 1998 NBA Playoffs, First Round
The latest significant meeting between these two teams was in the first round of the 1998 NBA Playoffs. The Jazz finish tied with the best record with Chicago at 62-20, having swept the regular season series against the Bulls, guaranteing home court advantage throughout the entire playoffs. However, the eighth seeded Houston Rockets, who finished with a record of 41-41 due to numerous injuries, nearly give the Jazz a scare when the Rockets, led by Drexler's 22 points, win the first game in the Delta Center 103-90. After the Jazz win Game 2 105-90, the Rockets win a grinding Game 3 89-85, led by a team-high 28 points and 12 rebounds from Olajuwon. The Utah Jazz was now one loss away from becoming only the second first-seeded team to lose to an eighth seed. The Rockets look poised to win the fourth game, but Charles Barkley receives an elbow to his forearm, tearing a triceps muscle and ending his season. The Jazz win the last two games of the series over the shorthanded Rockets, ending the retiring Clyde Drexler's career.
[edit] End of a rivalry
After the retirements of Drexler, Barkley, and Olajuwon, the Rockets do not return to the playoffs until 2004, when a team of Yao Ming, Steve Francis, and Cuttino Mobley would face the Lakers (the team which, Karl Malone joined the last offseason to win the elusive title). In that same year, the year after Stockton retired, the Jazz would end its twenty-year streak of postseason appearances.
