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No. 2 Utah vs. No. 3 Portland
| REGULAR-SEASON RESULTS (Portland won series 3-1) |
| Date |
Final Score |
| 11/9 at UTA |
Utah 92, Portland 87 |
| 1/27 at POR |
Portland 85, Utah 75 |
| 2/27 at Portland |
Portland 101, Utah 92 |
| 4/10 at UTA |
Portland 90, Utah 86 |
| HEAD COACHES |
Jerry Sloan, Utah
12th year in Utah, 15th year overall
Playoff record: 73-66
Best finish: Took Jazz to Finals in 1997 and '98, losing both years to the Bulls
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Mike Dunleavy, Portland
Third year with Blazers, ninth year overall
Playoff record: 27-21
Best Finish: Took Lakers to NBA Finals in 1991, losing to Bulls in five games
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| STARTING FIVE |
| Utah Jazz |
| John Stockton, G |
38-year old had better season this year than last
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| Jeff Hornacek, G |
A title run for one of the NBA's nice guys? |
| Bryon Russell, F |
Breakout year for Jazz' second-leading scorer |
| Karl Malone, F |
Carried Jazz past Sonics in first round |
| Olden Polynice, C |
Had a big game in Game 5 of Seattle series |
| Portland Trail Blazers |
| Damon Stoudamire, G |
Had an up-and-down series against Wolves |
| Steve Smith, G |
Could be due for big series |
| Scottie Pippen, F |
Carried Blazers down the stretch in first round |
| Rasheed Wallace, F |
Blazers' best interior defender |
| Arvydas Sabonis, C |
One of the best-passing big guys in league |
| THE BENCH |
| Utah Jazz |
| Howard Eisley, G |
Backs up Stockton and Hornacek at both guard positions |
| Armen Gilliam, F |
Picked off scrap heap at midseason, and he's been solid off bench |
| Greg Ostertag, C |
Team's second-leading rebounder |
| Quincy Lewis, G |
Rookie made key contributions during the season |
| Portland Trail Blazers |
| Brian Grant, F |
Needs to pick it up under the boards for Blazers to go deep in playoffs |
| Bonzi Wells, G |
Second-year players is explosive offensive weapon |
| Detlef Schrempf, F |
Another veteran with lots of playoff experience |
| Greg Anthony, G |
Often ends game running the point ahead of Stoudamire |
| Jermaine O'Neal, C |
Rail-thin and almost 7-foot, he masquerades as Blazers backup center |
| HOW THEY GOT THERE |
| Utah Jazz |
It came down to Game 5 at the Delta Center against Seattle and the Jazz big guys -- John Stockton and Karl Malone -- came through in a big way. The golden duo made 19 of 33 field goals with the Mailman finishing with 27 points and eight rebounds and Stockton going for 17 points, 15 assists and seven boards.
First-round overview
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| Portland Trail Blazers |
The Timberwolves gave them all they could handle in the
first round, which the Blazers ended up winning, 3-1, but only outscored
Minnesota by eight points total. The key to the series was the play of
Pippen in the closing minutes of each close game. He's won six title rings
and all that experience showed up when things got tense.
First-round overview
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| SERIES OUTLOOK |
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Karl Malone will get his points against defensive standout Rasheed Wallace -- he averaged 22 points and eight rebounds in the four games against the Blazers. The question is how will the other Jazz players fare against the defensive-minded and deep Blazers. It's a good bet that Scottie Pippen and friends took notes on how the Sonics disrupted the Jazz' pick and roll in Games 3 and 4 in the opening round, and will do lots of the same.
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| PREDICTION |
Portland will be able to contain the pick and roll. Blazers in 6
Prediction by Simon Fishler, SportsLine.com NBA Editor
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