PORTLAND, OREGON -- In search of his seventh NBA
championship ring, Scottie Pippen found a familiar victim.
Pippen made the go-ahead 3-pointer over a tortured Bryon Russell with
7.3 seconds to play, lifting the Portland Trail Blazers into the Western
Conference finals for the second straight year with an 81-79 victory over
the Utah Jazz.
Playing their worst game of the postseason, the Trail Blazers scrambled to
score the final six points and eliminated the aging Jazz in five games.
Portland bounced Utah from the conference semifinals in six games last
year.
Pippen teamed with Michael Jordan to win six championships with the
Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and joined Portland this season. Although he is
among the NBA's 50 Greatest Players, he usually has performed in a
secondary role -- until tonight.
The versatile 6-7 forward had 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists,
carrying his struggling team early and providing the leadership and big plays
as he has throughout the playoffs. He went down hard midway through the
final period but returned just over a minute later.
With the Blazers trailing 79-77, Pippen launched a 3-pointer from the left
wing over a sagging Russell to give Portland the lead. It was Russell
defending when Jordan hit the jumper that gave the Bulls the 1998
championship over the Jazz.
Russell, who scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, had two
chances to get even and failed both times. He took a pretty pass from John
Stockton and was fouled with three seconds left but short-armed both free
throws.
After Pippen rebounded the second and made 1-of-2 from the line,
Russell's potential game-winning 3-pointer was blocked by Rasheed
Wallace, who knocked Russell to the floor as the horn sounded.
The loss ended yet another fruitless playoff run by the Jazz and the career of
guard Jeff Hornacek. One of the game's greatest shooters, Hornacek had
said this season would be his last and he scored 10 points in his final NBA
game.
Karl Malone had 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Jazz, who led for most
of the game and appeared on the verge of forcing a sixth game back in
Utah. However, they lost their 14th straight playoff game in Portland dating
to 1988.
Throughout the series, Utah again looked old and unathletic as it again
raised questions of whether Malone and fellow superstar John Stockton
ever will win a title. The Jazz reached the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998,
losing to Chicago each time.
Until the final seven seconds, Russell was having a terrific game. His long
jumper with 3:13 to go gave the Jazz a 75-71 lead and after Pippen made
two free throws and Brian Grant tied it with a follow shot, Russell hit a
jumper off the dribble to give Utah a 77-75 edge with 1:46 remaining.
A runner by Malone with 47 seconds left made it a four-point lead but
Wallace answered with a turnaround jumper with 36 ticks remaining and
the Blazers forced Stockton to miss badly on a 3-pointer before Pippen's
big shot.
The Jazz led 63-61 entering the final period and baskets by Armen Gilliam
and Malone extended the advantage to six points. Pippen took charge,
setting up layups by Detlef Schrempf and Grant with beautiful passes, and
Portland caught Utah at 69-69 on two free throws by Greg Anthony with
6:35 to play.
Arvydas Sabonis had 16 points and nine rebounds and Wallace scored 11
points for the Blazers, who shot 42.5 percent (31-of-73) from the field and
held a 44-38 rebounding edge.
Olden Polynice had 10 rebounds and Stockton handed out nine assists for
the Jazz, who shot 41 percent (31-of-75). Malone was 11-of-25 and
Stockton 2-of-7.
Pippen scored nine points in the first quarter but Hornacek had eight and
the Jazz held a 21-19 edge.
The Blazers opened a 29-25 lead on Grant's dunk with 7:34 left in the
second quarter before their poor shooting caught up with them. They were
outscored 16-4 the rest of the period and shot just 33 percent (13-of-39)
in the first half, exiting to some boos.
Russell triggered Utah's surge with a pair of 3-pointers around a long
jumper, opening a 33-29 lead. He added another jumper as the Jazz built a
41-33 halftime advantage.
Things looked bad for Portland when Wallace injured his left knee scoring
the first basket of the second half. A jumper by Stockton extended the lead
to 49-40 with 9:09 left, but Wallace returned and the Blazers fought back.
Damon Stoudamire had a pair of 3-pointers to fuel the rally and the Blazers
tied it, 61-61, on a 20-footer by Wallace in the final minute of the third
quarter.
UTAH (79)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Malone 45 11-25 5-7 4-11 6 2 27
Russell 36 7-13 2-4 0-6 3 3 18
Polynice 41 3-7 2-3 3-10 1 4 8
Hornacek 39 4-9 2-2 0-3 2 5 10
Stockton 36 2-7 2-2 0-2 9 1 6
Eisley 16 1-5 2-2 0-2 2 5 4
Lewis 12 1-3 0-0 0-1 0 3 2
Gilliam 10 2-5 0-3 1-2 0 3 4
Vaughn 4 0-1 0-0 0-1 2 0 0
Padgett 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Keefe DNP - strained right hamstring
Ostertag DNP - coach's decision
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 240 31-75 15-23 8-38 25 26 79
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.413, FT-.652. 3-Point Goals:
2-9, .222 (Russell 2-6, Stockton 0-2, Lewis 0-1).
Team rebounds: 12. Blocked shots: 5 (Polynice 2,
Lewis 2, Russell). Turnovers: 13 (Polynice 5,
Stockton 3, Malone 2, Russell 2, Eisley). Steals:
9 (Malone 3, Russell 3, Gilliam, Hornacek,
Polynice).
PORTLAND (81)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Pippen 38 9-20 3-4 2-9 8 4 23
Wallace 29 5-9 1-1 1-1 0 3 11
Sabonis 37 7-12 2-5 0-9 0 2 16
Smith 34 2-5 6-9 0-3 6 3 10
Stoudamire 32 3-7 0-0 1-5 5 3 8
B Grant 30 3-6 0-0 3-6 0 4 6
Wells 7 0-2 0-0 0-2 1 1 0
Anthony 15 0-4 2-2 0-5 0 3 2
Schrempf 17 2-8 1-2 1-4 0 2 5
Augmon 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
G Grant DNP - coach's decision
Oneal DNP - coach's decision
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 240 31-73 15-23 8-44 20 25 81
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.425, FT-.652. 3-Point Goals:
4-15, .267 (Pippen 2-7, Smith 0-2, Stoudamire
2-3, Anthony 0-2, Schrempf 0-1). Team rebounds:
8. Blocked shots: 5 (Wallace 3, Stoudamire,
Pippen). Turnovers: 17 (B Grant 5, Pippen 3,
Sabonis 3, Smith 3, Stoudamire 2, Anthony).
Steals: 8 (Pippen 3, Wallace 2, B Grant, Sabonis,
Smith).
____________________________________________
Utah 21 20 22 16 - 79
Portland 19 14 28 20 - 81
____________________________________________
Technical fouls: None. Flagrant fouls: None. A:
20,043. T: 2:33. Officials: Bennett Salvatore,
Hue Hollins, Ted Bernhardt.
Jazz Come Up Short and Fall to Blazers in Game 5 of Western Conference Semi-Finals -- Season Comes to End
