FIRST LOOK

Regular-Season Records: Jazz 62-20, Bulls 62-20

Home/Road Records: Jazz 36-5/26-15, Bulls 37-4/25-16

Playoff records: Jazz beat Rockets, 3-2; beat Spurs, 4-1; beat Lakers, 4-0. Bulls beat Nets, 3-0; beat Hornets, 4-1; beat Pacers, 4-3.

Season Series: Jazz, 2-0

Utah at a glance: The Jazz has not played since May 24, the result of its having made quick work of the Lakers while the Bulls and Pacers went seven games. This made for some welcome time to heal--Jeff Hornacek has a sore Achilles’ tendon, Adam Keefe has sore feet--but also the closest thing to boredom a team can face. Coach Jerry Sloan, known for short practices anyway, kept his players only 30 minutes on Friday, long enough to stretch and shoot.

Chicago at a glance: Once more for posterity? Having long ago assured themselves a place in history, the Bulls again try to win a title as the wrecking ball hovers. This one will have to come without home-court advantage and, for the first time, in a rematch with one of the previous championship-series victims.

UTAH’S PROBABLE STARTERS

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P Player Ht Pts Reb F Karl Malone 6-9 27.0 10.3 F Bryon Russell 6-7 9.0 4.0 C Greg Foster 6-11 5.7 3.5 G Jeff Hornacek 6-4 14.2 *4.4 G John Stockton 6-1 12.0 *8.5

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UTAH’S TOP RESERVES

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P Player Ht Pts Reb F Shandon Anderson 6-6 8.3 2.8 F Adam Keefe 6-9 7.8 5.5 G Howard Eisley 6-2 7.7 *4.2 C Greg Ostertag 7-2 4.7 5.9

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CHICAGO’S PROBABLE STARTERS

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P Player Ht Pts Reb F Dennis Rodman 6-8 4.7 15.0 F Scottie Pippen 6-7 19.1 5.2 C Luc Longley 7-2 11.4 5.9 G Ron Harper 6-6 9.3 3.5 G Michael Jordan 6-6 28.7 5.8

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CHICAGO’S TOP RESERVES

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P Player Ht Pts Reb F Toni Kukoc 6-11 13.3 4.4 G Steve Kerr 6-3 7.5 *1.9 F Scott Burrell 6-7 5.2 2.5

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* assists

Statistics are for regular season

BACKCOURT

The size and experience of Jordan and Harper will make it difficult for the Jazz guards to jam defenders while setting screens, potentially neutralizing a long-held weapon, known to some as a “veteran trick,” known to others as dirty play. Maybe Bull Coach Phil Jackson will make mention of it at some point. Hornacek has other problems--he’s shooting only 41.8% in the playoffs and was only nine for 28 (32.1%) against the Lakers.

FRONTCOURT

Kukoc started six of seven games in the Eastern Conference finals, but it’s tough to imagine Jackson staying with him against Malone. That likely puts Rodman in the opening lineup at power forward, assuming he’s able to make all practices and tip-offs while shuttling between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

INTANGIBLES

Michael Jordan.

COACHES

The Jazz and Sloan are reportedly talking about a contract extension, though, to be sure, he will not allow it to become the sideshow. Unlike, say, the Bulls and Jackson. Of course, the entire organization has been a traveling sideshow for years, so that does not necessarily translate to the barrage of questions about Jackson’s future in Chicago becoming a distraction.

THE PICK

Woe be the person who goes against M.J? Hearing so many people pick the Jazz, as will likely be the case, should about take care of whatever fatigue 35-year-old Jordan feels from having averaged 41.5 minutes in a seven-game series-- and take care of the Jazz.