1997–98 Utah Jazz season

1997–98 Utah Jazz season
Midwest Division Champions Western Conference Champions
Head coach	Jerry Sloan
Arena	Delta Center
Results Record 62–20 (.756) Place Division: 1st (Midwest) Conference: 1st (Western) Playoff finish NBA Finals (eliminated 2–4) Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com Local media Television Fox Sports Rocky Mountain, KJZZ Radio KSOP-AM and FM < 1996–97 1998–99 >

The 1997–98 Utah Jazz season was the 24th for the National Basketball Association's Utah Jazz.^[1] The Jazz posted a 62–20 as members of the Midwest division. They would make it to the playoffs for the fifteenth season in a row and make it to the NBA Finals for the second straight time before losing in 6 games to the Chicago Bulls.

The Jazz's top scorer, Karl Malone at 27.0 points per game, was part of a Jazz offense that had two other players, John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek, averaging double-digits in points. Karl Malone was the only member of the team to go to the NBA All-Star Game.

In the playoffs, the Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets in the first round, then defeated the San Antonio Spurs in the semifinals, and swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Offseason

NBA Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	27	Jacque Vaughn [2]	(G)	United States	Kansas

The Jazz used their only pick on point guard Jacque Vaughn. He would play with the team for four seasons before going to the Atlanta Hawks.

Roster

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Greg Foster	Greg Ostertag
PF	Karl Malone	Antoine Carr
SF	Adam Keefe	Bryon Russell	Chris Morris
SG	Jeff Hornacek	Shandon Anderson
PG	John Stockton	Howard Eisley	Jacque Vaughn

Salaries

Player	Salary
Karl Malone	$5,118,578
John Stockton	$5,000,000
Jeff Hornacek	$4,195,000
Chris Morris	$3,000,000
Bryon Russell	$2,857,144
Adam Keefe	$2,300,000
Antoine Carr	$1,600,000
Howard Eisley	$1,240,000
Shandon Anderson	$1,200,000
Greg Ostertag	$647,400
Jacque Vaughn	$601,320
Greg Foster	$504,000
Troy Hudson	$242,000
Total	$27,305,442

Regular season

Season standings

Midwest Division	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	Div
y-Utah Jazz	62	20	.756	–	36–5	26–15	22–2
x-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	6	31–10	25–16	18–6
x-Minnesota Timberwolves	45	37	.549	17	26–15	19–22	14–10
x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	21	24–17	17–24	14–10
Dallas Mavericks	20	62	.244	42	13–28	7–34	9–15
Vancouver Grizzlies	19	63	.232	43	14–27	5–36	4–20
Denver Nuggets	11	71	.134	51	9–32	2–39	3–21

#	Western Conference
	Team	W	L	PCT	GB
1	z-Utah Jazz	62	20	.756	–
2	y-Seattle SuperSonics	61	21	.744	1
3	x-Los Angeles Lakers	61	21	.744	1
4	x-Phoenix Suns	56	26	.683	6
5	x-San Antonio Spurs	56	26	.683	6
6	x-Portland Trail Blazers	46	36	.561	16
7	x-Minnesota Timberwolves	45	37	.549	17
8	x-Houston Rockets	41	41	.500	21
9	Sacramento Kings	27	55	.329	35
10	Dallas Mavericks	20	62	.244	42
11	Vancouver Grizzlies	19	63	.232	43
11	Golden State Warriors	19	63	.232	43
13	Los Angeles Clippers	17	65	.207	45
14	Denver Nuggets	11	71	.134	51

^[3]

Game log

1997-98 Game Log Total: 62-20 (Home: 36-5; Road: 26-15)
October: 0-1 (Home: 0-0; Road: 0-1) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 1 October 31 at Los Angeles Lakers L 87-104 Shandon Anderson (21) Karl Malone (14) Howard Eisley (6) Great Western Forum 16,234 0-1
November: 9-5 (Home: 6-2; Road: 3-3) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 2 November 1 vs Denver Nuggets W 102-84 Karl Malone (24) Greg Ostertag (11) Howard Eisley, Jeff Hornacek (6) Delta Center 19,911 1-1 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 3 November 3 vs Washington Wizards L 86-90 Karl Malone (21) Karl Malone (16) Jeff Hornacek, Jacque Vaughn (6) Delta Center 19,911 1-2 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 4 November 4 at Phoenix Suns L 84-106 Karl Malone Karl Malone, Greg Ostertag Jeff Hornacek America West Arena 19,023 1-3 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 5 November 7 at Denver Nuggets W 91-89 Karl Malone (22) Karl Malone, Greg Ostertag (11) Jeff Hornacek McNichols Sports Arena 10,317 2-3 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 6 November 8 at San Antonio Spurs L 80-87 Alamodome 2-4 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 7 November 12 vs Vancouver Grizzlies W 98-90 Delta Center 3-4 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 8 November 14 vs Seattle SuperSonics W 110-104 Delta Center 4-4 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 9 November 15 at Dallas Mavericks W 85-77 Reunion Arena 5-4 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 10 November 18 vs Los Angeles Lakers L 92-97 Delta Center 5-5 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 11 November 20 at Sacramento Kings L 95-97 ARCO Arena 5-6 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 12 November 22 vs San Antonio Spurs W 103-74 Delta Center 6-6 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 13 November 24 vs Minnesota Timberwolves W 133-124 (OT) Delta Center 7-6 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 14 November 28 vs Golden State Warriors W 111-82 Delta Center 8-6 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 15 November 29 at Los Angeles Clippers W 94-91 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena 9-6
December: 10-5 (Home: 5-1; Road: 5-4) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location Attendance Record 16 December 1 vs New Jersey Nets W 100-95 Delta Center 10-6 Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
January: 10-3 (Home: 8-1; Road: 2-2) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
February: 9-2 (Home: 6-1; Road: 3-1) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
March: 15-2 (Home: 5-0; Road: 10-2) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
April: 9-2 (Home: 6-0; Away: 3-2) Game Date Opponent Score High points High rebounds High assists Location/Attendance Record
1997-98 Schedule

Playoffs

West First Round

(1) Utah Jazz vs. (8) Houston Rockets Last Playoff Meeting: 1997 Western Conference Finals (Utah won 4-2)

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (UTA-HOU)	Venue	Box score	Television
1	April 23	Utah	90	Houston	103	0-1	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	1	TBS 9:30et
2	April 25	Utah	105	Houston	90	1-1	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	2	TNT 10:30et
3	April 29	Houston	89	Utah	85	1-2	Compaq Center, Houston, Texas	3	TBS 9:30et
4	May 1	Houston	71	Utah	93	2-2	Compaq Center, Houston, Texas	4	TNT 9:30et
5	May 3	Utah	84	Houston	70	3-2	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	5	NBC 3:00et
Utah wins series 3–2

West Conference Semifinals

(1) Utah Jazz vs. (5) San Antonio Spurs Last Playoff Meeting: 1996 Western Conference Semifinals (Utah won 4-2)

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (UTA-SAS)	Venue	Box score	Television
1	May 5	Utah	83	San Antonio	82	1-0	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	1	TNT 10:30et
2	May 7	Utah	109	San Antonio	106	2-0	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	2	TNT 10:30et
3	May 9	San Antonio	86	Utah	64	2-1	Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas	3	NBC 3:30et
4	May 10	San Antonio	73	Utah	82	3-1	Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas	4	TNT 9:00et
5	May 12	Utah	87	San Antonio	77	4-1	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	5	TNT 8:00et
Utah wins series 4–1

West Conference Finals

(1) Utah Jazz vs. (3) Los Angeles Lakers Last Playoff Meeting: 1997 Western Conference Semifinals (Utah won 4-1)

Game	Date	Home	Score	Visitor	Score	Record (UTA-LAL)	Venue	Box score	Television
1	May 16	Utah	112	Los Angeles	77	1-0	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	1	NBC 3:00et
2	May 18	Utah	99	Los Angeles	95	2-0	Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah	2	TNT 8:30et
3	May 22	Los Angeles	98	Utah	109	3-0	Great Western Forum, Los Angeles, California	3	TNT 10:30et
4	May 24	Los Angeles	92	Utah	96	4-0	Great Western Forum, Los Angeles, California	4	NBC 3:30et
Utah wins series 4–0

NBA Finals

^[3] Legend: OT denotes a game decided in overtime

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	June 3	Utah	88-85 (OT)	Chicago
Game 2	June 5	Utah	88-93	Chicago
Game 3	June 7	Chicago	96-54	Utah
Game 4	June 10	Chicago	86-82	Utah
Game 5	June 12	Chicago	81-83	Utah
Game 6	June 14	Utah	86-87	Chicago

Bulls win series 4-2

Player statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Season

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Anderson, Shandon !Shandon Anderson	82	2	19.5	.538	.219	.735	2.8	1.1	.8	.2	8.3
Carr, Antoine !Antoine Carr	66	8	16.5	.465	.	.776	2.0	.7	.2	.8	5.7
Cunningham, William (basketball) !William Cunningham	6	2	6.3	.444	.	.	1.3	.2	.3	.0	1.3
Eisley, Howard (basketball) !Howard Eisley	82	18	21.0	.441	.407	.852	2.0	4.2	.7	.2	7.7
Foster, Greg !Greg Foster	78	49	18.5	.445	.222	.770	3.5	.7	.2	.4	5.7
Hornacek, Jeff (basketball) !Jeff Hornacek	80	80	30.8	.482	.441	.885	3.4	4.4	1.4	.2	14.2
Hudson, Troy (basketball) !Troy Hudson	8	0	2.9	.429	.000	.	.3	.5	.3	.0	1.5
Keefe, Adam (basketball) !Adam Keefe	80	75	25.6	.540	.	.810	5.5	1.1	.7	.3	7.8
Malone, Karl (basketball) !Karl Malone	81	81	37.4	.530	.333	.761	10.3	3.9	1.2	.9	27.0
Morris, Chris (basketball) !Chris Morris	54	1	10.0	.411	.306	.721	2.1	.4	.5	.3	4.3
Ostertag, Greg (basketball) !Greg Ostertag	63	23	20.4	.481	.	.479	5.9	.4	.4	2.1	4.7
Russell, Bryon (basketball) !Bryon Russell	82	7	27.1	.430	.341	.766	4.0	1.2	1.1	.4	9.0
Stockton, John (basketball) !John Stockton	64	64	29.0	.528	.429	.827	2.6	8.5	1.4	.2	12.0
Vaughn, Jacque (basketball) !Jacque Vaughn	45	0	9.3	.361	.375	.706	.8	1.9	.2	.0	3.1

^[4]

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG

Awards and records

• Karl Malone, All-NBA First Team
• Karl Malone, NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Karl Malone, NBA Leader, Free Throw Attempts (825) ^[3]

Transactions

Free Agents

Additions Player Signed Former team

Subtractions Player Left New team

See also

• 1997-98 NBA season

References

1997–98 NBA season by team 1997 NBA Draft All-Star Game Playoffs Finals Transactions Eastern Atlantic Boston Miami New Jersey New York Orlando Philadelphia Washington Central Atlanta Charlotte Chicago Cleveland Detroit Indiana Milwaukee Toronto Western Midwest Dallas Denver Houston Minnesota San Antonio Utah Vancouver Pacific Golden State L.A. Clippers L.A. Lakers Phoenix Portland Sacramento Seattle

Utah Jazz Formerly the New Orleans Jazz Founded in 1974 Based in Salt Lake City, Utah The Franchise Franchise Expansion Draft All-time Roster Records Head coaches Seasons Current season Arenas Loyola Field House New Orleans Municipal Auditorium Louisiana Superdome Salt Palace EnergySolutions Arena (formerly Delta Center) D-League Affiliate Idaho Stampede Administration Jazz Basketball Investors, Inc. (the estate of Larry H. Miller, owner) Randy Rigby (President) Kevin O'Connor (Executive VP, Basketball Operations) Dennis Lindsey (General Manager) Quin Snyder (Head coach) Retired Numbers 1 4 7 9 12 14 32 35 53 1223 Hot Rod Hundley (Microphone) Hall of Famers Pete Maravich Adrian Dantley John Stockton Jerry Sloan Hot Rod Hundley Karl Malone Conference Championships (2) 1997 1998 Rivals Houston Rockets Culture and lore The Mailman Jazz Bear Dan Roberts Hot Rod Hundley Larry H. Miller Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals Celtic Pride Media TV Root Sports Utah Radio KZNS-AM KZNS-FM Radio Network Announcers Craig Bolerjack Matt Harpring David Locke Ron Boone

New Orleans/Utah Jazz seasons 1970s 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1980s 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1990s 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 2000s 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2010s 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15