The matchup that has been shaping up all season is finally here -- Chicago, the team with the best record during the first half of the season, against Utah, who had the league's best second-half mark. These two squads posted the best regular-season home records, with only five home-court losses between them. Karl Malone, who edged out Michael Jordan for this year's NBA Most Valuable Player award, will be fighting it out for another award that has often been bestowed upon His Airness -- the Bulls are looking for their fifth championship ring of the decade, while the Jazz are hunting for their first.

Four players from the NBA's fifty-greatest list -- Jordan, Malone, Scottie Pippen, and John Stockton -- will draw the spotlight. Each team relies on its pair of veteran stars for the bulk of its scoring and inspiration, but the decisive factor in this series may well lie beneath the clashing titans. The play of Utah's Bryon Russell and Greg Ostertag, and of Chicago's Toni Kukoc and Luc Longley, could prove the difference between a Bulls repeat and a long-awaited championship for Malone and Stockton.

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