Revenge? Ostertag Didn’t Slap Back After Sweep

Shaquille O’Neal slapped him in the head before the first Laker-Utah Jazz game of the season in October.

But Utah center Greg Ostertag would not claim revenge after scoring 11 points, taking seven rebounds and helping the Jazz complete a four-game series sweep of the Lakers at the Great Western Forum on Sunday.

In fact, he didn’t say much of anything about O’Neal. And here’s all Ostertag would say when questioned about the Oct. 31 incident:

“I’m not talking about it. It’s over. Thank you.”

Said Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan: “I hope he’s not thinking backward. We tell our guys not to think backward. It’s all in the future. You can’t worry about something somebody said or did to you in the past.

“It’s a simple philosophy, really.”

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Sloan on winning four games in a row against the Lakers:

“Nobody felt we could sweep them. We were just hoping we could beat them. We felt if we did the right things we could compete with them, and we did. That gave us confidence at the start.”

A 35-point victory in Game 1 will do that for you.

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Punch and cookies for everyone.

Utah’s celebration after advancing to the NBA finals for the second consecutive season certainly was subdued. There was no group hug at center court, no mugging for the TV cameras and no champagne in the dressing room.

“I would like to tell you guys I’m going to celebrate until the sun comes up, but that’s not really an issue,” forward Karl Malone said.

Added reserve forward Chris Morris: “Right now, there’s nobody in here throwing any champagne around.”

Morris paused.

“I wish we were,” he added.

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So Jeff Hornacek, now that the Jazz has advanced to the finals, who would you rather face: the Chicago Bulls or Indiana Pacers?

“Why do you guys always ask those kinds of questions?” Hornacek groaned. “You know we’re not going to say we prefer this team or that team.”

Several days rest seems to be what matters most to Hornacek and his teammates.

“For me, I’ve had a bad Achilles [tendon] for a while, so the break will help me,” Hornacek said. “It gives us a chance to rest. It gives us a chance to prepare for both teams [Chicago and Indiana] until one of them wins [the Eastern Conference final], then we’ll concentrate on one.”

Added Malone: “Maybe the networks don’t like that we finished this series already, but we sure as hell do. Maybe now we’ll get some rest and get ready for the next round.”