Jazz Prevails as Trail Blazers Hit Low Note

Getting old just doesn’t get old around here.

In an NBA postseason that has seen the tide turn toward youth, with a collection of new players rising to fill the void left by Michael Jordan, the story in the Delta Center remains the same.

The matchups sure don’t favor the Utah Jazz, so why do they keep winning?

It’s evident that they simply have a better grasp of the situation than their opponents, in this case, the youthful Portland Trail Blazers.

Here’s the difference between the two teams: While Utah’s John Stockton was at the free-throw line to put the finishing touches on Utah’s 93-83 victory with 18.1 seconds remaining in Game 1 of their second-round series Tuesday night, Portland’s Isaiah Rider was wandering over to the scorer’s table, reaching into a bag of candy and popping a Jolly Rancher into his mouth.

Any more doubts about which team knows what it takes to win playoff games and which team doesn’t? Do you need an explanation of which team went to the past two NBA finals and which team lost in the first round for the past six years?

It wasn’t the Jazz that scored an NBA playoff-record low five points in the fourth quarter, it was the Trail Blazers.

It wasn’t the Jazz whose reserves were outscored, 26-18, it was the Trail Blazers.

It wasn’t the Jazz that blew a 15-point lead, it was the Trail Blazers.

That’s how Utah overcame a matchup that had them quivering.

Karl Malone had 25 points and 12 rebounds and Stockton had 10 points and seven assists for Utah. Brian Grant scored 19 points for Portland before fouling out in the fourth quarter, when nothing went right for the Trail Blazers.

The previous playoff record for fewest points in a quarter was held by the Atlanta Hawks, who scored only six at Boston on May 6, 1986.

The list of concerns for Utah was much longer than Portland’s coming into the series.

The Jazz had to worry about countering Portland’s size, particularly after center Greg Ostertag had such a miserable performance in the first round against Sacramento.

The Jazz felt Portland had a big edge in the Rider-Jeff Hornacek matchup at shooting guard.

And the Jazz bench play, which has been up-and-down throughout the season, was at a definite disadvantage against the deepest team in the NBA. (And we do mean deep; the Trail Blazers even have five assistant coaches).

In the first half, the Jazz took care of the first two items. Ostertag showed up and Portland’s 7-foot-3 Arvydas Sabonis got into foul trouble. The Jazz double-teamed Rider and he scored a pedestrian six points.

No. 3 was the killer. With the second units on the court for both teams at the start of the second quarter, the Trail Blazers went on an 8-2 run to open up a nine-point lead. Utah Coach Jerry Sloan had to bring Malone and Stockton back into the game within the first four minutes.

That tandem is the primary concern for Portland--or any team facing the Jazz, for that matter--and they showed why in the last six minutes of the quarter.

After the Jazz fell behind by 15 at 42-27, Stockton or Malone (sometimes both) had a hand in 18 of Utah’s next 20 points.

Malone fed Stockton for a baseline jumper plus a foul with 7.7 seconds left in the half. The three-point play completed a 21-6 Utah run and tied the score at 48. Damon Stoudamire made a jumper at the buzzer and Portland led by two.

The Trail Blazers don’t have a consistent go-to guy. They just milk whoever is hot. For a while in the third quarter it was Rasheed Wallace, who scored nine of Portland’s 11 points in one stretch. Later, Rider took over and scored six points in a row . Utah scrapped to stay in it and somehow remained close despite 75% shooting by the Trail Blazers in the quarter. Hornacek came to life after a scoreless first half and got eight points.

In the fourth quarter the Trail Blazers’ X factor, their temperament, came into play. Wallace sent Bryon Russell crashing to the floor with a flagrant foul, giving the Jazz two free throws plus the ball out of bounds. Then he picked up a technical foul for arguing the call with official Eddie F. Rush.

It was too close a game to be giving a team extra possessions, and the Jazz capitalized. After Russell made two free throws, Thurl Bailey made a jumper that tied the score at 78.

Portland, which shot two for 16 with five turnovers in the fourth quarter, scored only one point in the first 7:56. This was where the team’s composition of a bunch of good players but no great ones came into play. They had no one they could give the ball to , no play they could run that would guarantee a good look at the basket.

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What’s the Point?

Fewest points in a quarter in an NBA playoff game.

5--Portland at Utah, May 18, 1999

6--Atlanta at Boston, May 6, 1986

8--Lakers vs. Milwaukee, April 9, 1972

8--Utah at Lakers, May 8, 1988

8--New Jersey vs. Cleveland, May 7, 1993

8--Houston vs. Phoenix, May 11, 1994