http://www.ksl.com/TV/jazz/game4.htm JAZZ - HOUSTON: Western Conference Finals Game 4 Houston 95, Utah 92 (May 25, 1997) HOUSTON -- Eddie Johnson was the hero for the Houston Rockets once again, this time with one basket rather than several. Johnson barely beat the final buzzer with a high-arching 3-point shot from 25 feet Sunday, giving the Houston Rockets a dramatic 95-92 victory over the Utah Jazz that tied the Western Conference finals at two games apiece. The 3-pointer was the only basket of the second half for Johnson, who was the hero of Game 3 when he came off the bench to score 31 points. The game-winning shot left his fingertips with just 0.2 seconds left on the clock, and he high-stepped to the other end of the court and was mobbed by his teammates after it swished through. Game 5 is Tuesday night in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz have won 21 straight games. But they'll have to grab the momentum back from the Rockets, who are trying to come back from an 0-2 deficit for the third time in their history. The first two times they did it -- 1994 and 1995 -- ended with NBA championships for Houston. Hakeem Olajuwon scored 27 points for Houston, while Charles Barkley had 20 points and 16 rebounds and Clyde Drexler scored 16 points. John Stockton and Karl Malone scored 22 points apiece for Utah, but the similarities between their performances ended there. Stockton shot 9-for-12 from the field and had eight assists, while Malone was just 10-for-28 and made several mistakes over the final few minutes.
I went to the UC Underground at University of Houston around that time to study and whatnot and saw in the breakroom that they were showing the game. Watched the second half and damn, that was a great game. Noticed that Rudy only used about 8 guys throughout the game and it was all about the inside game and thats it. Noticed the rookie Shandon Anderson being a pest by grabbing the loose balls and Byron Russell could actually shoot back in the days. One classic moment was Sloan was arguing to the refs for a specific call and Barkley was right up in his face clapping and one of the Jazz Assistance had to stand between the 2 before something starts. The buzzer beater by EJ is a classic! I still say he was running towards the cheerleaders at the end!
I'm not sure that is true, but I will say this: when Stockton saw that his counterparts where going to be Matt Maloney and Sedale Threatt, he was probably salivating pretty hard.
maybe i have a bad memory, but is matt maloney the worst starter on a conference finals team in the last decade. i mean, how could he be a starter on a conference finalist.
Its absolutely true. Our defense allowed Stockton wide open shots on a consitant basis, therefore, he killed us with his shooting as well as his passing. The whole series, adjustments were not made despite Stockton proving that he was capable of knocking down practically every wide open shot that you give him. Therefore, we did indeed make him look like a better player than he was (not that hes not great).
The very same Matt Maloney who laid in 27pts again Gary Payton in game 4 of the Seattle series and outplayed payton that series?
I think maloney had 7 or 8 three's in an early playoff game that year. But if there is ever a guy who benefitted from having greats around him, it was matt maloney that year. If you could hit an open three, you could have started for the rockets at point that year.
Game 6? Watching that mug all over again would cause me to call in sick for work. Karl Malone levelling Clyde Drexler (no call). I keep waiting for the Super Secret Footage showing Karl Malone after that game signing an autograph for the ref who looked the other way on the final play ("who do I make it out to?")
