After losing to the Bulls in six games in the previous NBA Finals, the Jazz were favored to get back there again as the Western Conference's representative. Utah, at 62-20, finished with the best record in the West and tied with the Bulls for the best mark in the entire NBA. Utah, by virtue of their 2-0 series win over Chicago, would have homecourt advantage against any other team in the league throughout the playoffs.

But the arch-nemesis Rockets stood in the way as a possible early road-block. Houston, after a disappointing 41-41, injury-filled regular season, had a chance to redeem itself in the playoffs as a No. 8 seed.

Utah realized it wouldn't coast to back to the Finals when the Rockets upset the Jazz in the Delta Center in Game 1 with Drexler leading the way. The Jazz evened the best-of-5 series two nights later with a 105-90 victory.

Houston, however, put Utah's backs to the wall after an 89-85 win in Game 3. Suddenly, the Jazz were one game away from elimination in the first round of the playoffs — with Game 4 in Houston. The Rockets led by six at halftime of Game 4, but Malone scored 19 of his 29 points after the break, as the Jazz rallied to win going away, 93-71.

Drexler, playing the final game of his NBA career, was just 1-for-13 in the series finale. The Jazz got big games from both Bryon Russell and Greg Ostertag to advance, 3-2. It was certainly the toughest series until the NBA Finals for the '98 Jazz, as they went 8-1 in the next two rounds, beating San Antonio and the Lakers before losing to the Bulls for the second straight year in the NBA Finals.

Today, after nearly a decade, the Jazz and Rockets will renew their playoff rivalry. Other than the Jazz coaches, nobody is left over from these classic series of the past. And for the first time Stockton and Olajuwon won't be playing in them either.

Still, the new series will make for another playoff chapter for both teams.

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com