NBA PLAYOFFS / WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS : Olajuwon Most Valuable in Clutch

They were in the right place, but it must have been the wrong time.

Out to gain the home-court advantage, the Utah Jazz took four leads in Wednesday night’s final minutes, only to find out how Hakeem Olajuwon got to be this season’s most valuable player. Olajuwon scored 12 points in the last 4:39 and 41 in all, almost single-handedly carrying the Houston Rockets to a 104-99 victory and a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Olajuwon, presented his MVP trophy before the game by Commissioner David Stern, beat double-teams and triple-teams, four times tying the score in the closing minutes after the Jazz had taken two-point leads.

Then he made two free throws with 1:20 left after the Jazz had closed to 96-95.

And to top things off, he made a jump hook while getting knocked to the floor with 39 seconds left, after the Jazz had closed to 98-97.

“Falling backwards,” Utah guard Jeff Hornacek said admiringly. “He banked one home. Rolled a couple around and in.

“He’s done this for years. The difference is, in the past, if you got him off-balance, he would still take the shot. When you doubled him, sometimes he’d give up and throw the ball out.

“Now he picks his spots. He just keeps spinning and spinning and all of a sudden, there’s a little opening.”

Utah’s Karl Malone tried shooting it out with Olajuwon. After the Jazz took an 86-85 lead with 5:41 left, the Mailman scored his team’s next seven points while Hakeem was scoring eight in a row for the Rockets.

“I was just looking at the clock,” Olajuwon said, “hoping he would miss so I could get the rebound. At the time, the concentration level is so high. Now that it’s over, now that I can think back, it’s fun.”

Said Malone, who scored 32: “Don’t give me any of that duel stuff. I really didn’t get involved in trying to go back and forth.”

Now facing an uphill struggle or a short series, the Jazz appreciated neither the drama nor aesthetics of Wednesday’s game. Unlike Game 1, they weren’t blown away, but all they got for a better effort was a tougher loss.

“We had a stretch in the second quarter when we were up (35-28), but we stopped executing and let them back in the game,” Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan growled.

“One time we had five guys on the perimeter. When you look up and see five guys on the perimeter, I have a hard time with that, especially after 100 ballgames.”

The Rockets had a 22-point lead before halftime of Game 1, but this one was a struggle from the opening tap, minutes after Stern handed Olajuwon his MVP trophy and all the Rocket players ringed Hakeem and joined him in raising it up above his head.

Apparently unmoved, the Jazz jumped out to a 10-4 lead.

The Rockets fought back, but the Jazz wouldn’t go away.

With 5:41 left, John Stockton, taking an inbounds pass with three seconds on the shot clock, stepped back and made a 25-footer for an 86-85 lead.

After that, the big dogs took over.

With 4:58 left, Malone made one of two free throws to make it 87-85.

With 4:39 left, Olajuwon made a six-foot hook to tie it.

With 4:22 left, Malone hit a 14-foot jumper to make it 89-87.

With 4:08 left, Olajuwon made a 10-foot turnaround over Felton Spencer, spinning to the baseline to avoid the double-team, to tie it.

With 3:45 left, Malone made two free throws to make it 91-89.

With 3:27 left, Olajuwon made two free throws to tie it.

With 3:02 left, Malone hit a 15-footer to make it 93-91.

With 2:49 left, Olajuwon got to the basket for a layup to tie it.

On the next Jazz possession, Hornacek missed a 17-footer. At the other end, Olajuwon missed a 15-footer, but Otis Thorpe rebounded. The ball swung to Mario Elie, who hit a three-pointer, putting the Rockets ahead to stay.

Then Olajuwon scored the next four points to keep the Jazz at bay.

“He’s relentless,” said Jazz forward Ty Corbin, who spent the fourth quarter double-teaming Olajuwon in vain. “He’s just one of those players.”

Said Spencer: “I’m looking for suggestions. I’ll take any you have.”