It ended with legendary NBA player and general manager Jerry West calling it one of the best playoff series he had ever witnessed. The Utah Jazz, despite their thin seven-man rotation, pushed the eventual champion Lakers to seven games in the 1988 Western Conference Semifinals, signaling a breakthrough for the upstart franchise and its tandem of blossoming superstars, Karl Malone and John Stockton.
"We didn't win the series, but I think it was the beginning of the rise, I really do," said a starter on that 1987-88 Jazz team, Marc Iavaroni, now coach of the Memphis Grizzlies. "That's where the foundation was set, obviously, with those hall of famers [Malone and Stockton] just starting to show the nation what they could do."
Two other key elements of that series, center Mark Eaton and forward Thurl Bailey, concurred, saying recently that those two weeks in May thrust the Jazz into the national consciousness, and helped make the phrase Stockton-to-Malone a household term.
Little did anyone know at the time, however, that it would be nine more years before the Jazz would reach their first NBA Finals.
"We had some momentum and some key players," acknowledged coach Jerry Sloan, an assistant under Frank Layden in 1988.
But it didn't last.
Seven months later, almost to the day that the memorable Jazz-Lakers series began, Layden suddenly resigned, and Sloan took over as head coach. The Jazz made the1989 playoffs and earned home-court advantage in the first round, but were swept 3-0 by the Golden State Warriors. The following year, they lost a first-round series 3-2 to the Phoenix Suns.
"I had all big guys," Sloan said, recalling the playoff failures after the 1988 rise. "That's why we ended up trading Thurl Bailey for Tyrone Corbin. We couldn't match up. If we stayed big, we couldn't guard them. If we went small, we weren't talented enough."
But the Jazz will always have the 1988 series, perhaps the most significant losing series in franchise history, outside the back-to-back losses to the Chicago Bulls in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals.
"It put [Utah] on the map," Iavaroni said. "I have very fond memories, despite the fact that we lost the series, despite the fact that I had a big turnover in Game 5 on an inbounds play that enabled them to win the game."
Malone's third season was concluding in 1988, and Stockton's fourth. The underdog Jazz ousted Portland 3-1 in the first round, and were given no chance against the Lakers. Layden played that angle to the hilt, and after Los Angeles won Game 1 110-91 his post-game press conference was more stand-up comedy than tactical discussion.
Loosened by their coach's wit, the Jazz surprised the Lakers 101-97 in Game 2 and returned home to take Game 3 at the Salt Palace.
"Frank had a terrific knack of handling things like that," Sloan recalled. "He knew what to say in times like that. I have never seen anybody who could have the kind of impact on players like he did and knowing what was going on in their minds."
After another L.A. blowout in Game 4, the series hinged on Game 5. Utah overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and had a 109-108 lead when Bailey hit a 12-footer with 12 seconds left. Michael Cooper's only points of the game, a 15-footer with seven seconds left, helped the Lakers regain the lead, though, and James Worthy subsequently stole Iavaroni's inbounds pass.
"We gave that game away," Iavaroni said.
Malone then guaranteed a Game 6 win at the Salt Palace, and the Jazz delivered a 108-80 beatdown with Bobby Hansen outplaying Magic Johnson. A spontaneous celebration ensued afterword, as fans hollered and high-fived each other out on the Salt Palace plaza and drivers honked their horns on West Temple.
However, two days later in Los Angeles, the party ended. Eaton got into early foul trouble, and the Lakers finished off the Jazz en route to their fifth NBA title in the 80's.
But the Jazz were on the cusp of something great, and everybody knew it.
Utah Jazz vs. L.A. Lakers Western Conference Semifinals, 1988
Game*Result*City
Game I*Lakers 110, Jazz 91*Los Angeles
Game 2*Jazz 101, Lakers 97*Los Angeles
Game 3*Jazz 96, Lakers 89*Salt Lake City
Game 4*Lakers 113, Jazz 100*Salt Lake City
Game 5*Lakers 111, Jazz 109*Los Angeles
Game 6*Jazz 108, Lakers 80*Salt Lake City
Game 7*Lakers 109, Jazz 98*Los Angeles
Lakers win series, 4-3
