CLIPPERS vs. UTAH JAZZ

Western Conference Quarterfinals

* CLIPPERS AT A GLANCE: They were humiliated in their final two games after clinching their first playoff berth in four seasons, losing by 28 points to the Lakers and 25 points to the Seattle SuperSonics. Guard Darrick Martin, who scored a career-high 38 points in a 115-101 win over the Utah Jazz last December at the Sports Arena, failed to score in his last two games, missing eight shots. Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said he was considering changing the starting backcourt after Malik Sealy and Martin were scoreless against the SuperSonics.

* JAZZ AT A GLANCE: Can the Mailman deliver the Jazz their first NBA title? Karl Malone, who had a most valuable player-like season, hopes to win the ring that has eluded him in his 12-year career. The Jazz have come close, reaching the Western Conference finals for three of the last five years. The Jazz, who took the Seattle SuperSonics to seven games in the Western Conference finals last season, finished with the NBA’s second-best record behind the Chicago Bulls. The Jazz set franchise records for most wins, most home wins and most road wins and won 32 of 36 games after the all-star break, the league’s best record in that stretch.

Utah, probable starters:

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Position, Player, Ht Wt., No. F Karl Malone, 6-9 256, #32. F Bryon Russell, 6-7 225, #3. C Greg Ostertag, 7-2 280, #00. G John Stockton, 6-1 175, #12. G Jeff Hornacek, 6-4 190, #14.

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Utah, key reserves:

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Position, Player, Ht Wt., No. C/F Antonie Carr, 6-9 255, #55. F Adam Keefe, 6-9 241, #31. F Greg Foster, 6-11 240, #44.

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Clippers, probable starters:

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Position, Player, Ht Wt., No. F Loy Vaught, 6-9 240, #35. F Rodney Rogers, 6-7 255, #54. C Lorenzen Wright 6-11 225, #55. G Darrick Martin, 5-11 170, #15. G Malik Sealy, 6-8, 190, #21.

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Clippers, key reserves

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Position, Player, Ht Wt., No. F/C Bo Outlaw, 6-8 210, #45. G Brent Barry, 6-6 185, #31. F Lamond Murray, 6-7 236, #7. G Terry Dehere, 6-4 190, #24.

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GUARDS

Stockton is headed for the Hall of Fame. Martin, one of the NBA’s biggest success stories this season, has proven that he can play with Stockton for one game, but can he do it for a five-game series? Sealy, who averaged 16.1 points and shot 42.9% in February, tailed off at the end of the season, averaging 10.7 points and shooting 35.5% in his final 11 games. Sealy, one of the Clippers’ best defensive players, must slow down Hornacek, who shot a career-best 46.6%.

FORWARDS

Vaught, the only holdover from the Clippers’ last playoff team, has the toughest assignment on the team, checking Malone. But he’ll have help from Outlaw, the Clippers’ best defender. Malone, who has made his living inside, posted up outside more this season, which forced defenses to loosen up. Rogers, who was on the Denver Nugget team that posted one of the biggest upsets in NBA playoff history by stunning the SuperSonics in 1994, should gather his teammates and tell them how the Nuggets did it.

CENTER

Wright hasn’t played like a rookie during the second half of the season ,and he’ll need to step up another notch in the playoffs. Ostertag isn’t Mark Eaton, but he has had a good second season, playing in 77 games. Ostertag, who blocked a career-high seven shots in a 101-89 win over Minnesota on Saturday night, led the Jazz in blocked shots and was second in rebounding.

INTANGIBLES

The Jazz are good at sea level, but they’re almost unbeatable in the thin air of Salt Lake City. Utah, 38-3 at home this season, is 75-7 at home over the last two seasons. “They play better there,” Fitch said. “There’s the altitude, the crowd and the noise. As good as they play on the road, they play awesome in the confines of their arena. The altitude shouldn’t hurt us, we’re going in a day early and we’re not going skiing.”

COACHES

Although he won’t say it, Fitch may have done his best coaching job this season, taking the Clippers from 17 wins in 1994-95 to 36 this season. Fitch said he isn’t worried about the collapse in the final three games of the season. “We’ve rode these guys from the very beginning, but I threw the whip away [after they clinched a playoff berth] and they know it,” he said. . . . Jerry Sloan isn’t flashy like Pat Riley or spacy like Phil Jackson and he labors in the NBA’s smallest market. Sloan, who replaced funnyman Frank Layden in 1989, has led the Jazz to three division titles, but hasn’t gotten much recognition because he’s colorless. Winning an NBA title wouldn’t get him a book deal or many endorsements outside of Utah, but he’d get the public recognition he has earned.

THE PICK

The Clippers had their best season in four years, but they have little chance of beating the Jazz, who have won 14 consecutive home games against the Clippers since 1989 and are making their 14th consecutive playoff appearance. Although Danny Manning and Ron Harper helped the Clippers take the Jazz to five games in the first round of the 1992 playoffs, losing by nine points in the final game at Salt Lake City, this team is still maturing and avoiding a sweep will be a major accomplishment. But the Clippers have prospered despite being ridiculed and an upset, while unlikely, isn’t impossible if they play flawless basketball.