This was a great squad that wasn't the most physically talented team although it still featured the Hall of fame duo of John Stockton & Karl Malone along with Byron Russell, Jeff Hornaceck, Greg Ostertag in the starting line up with a solid bench that featured Howard Eisley, Shanon Anderson, Antoine Carr and Adam Keefe. This team won with its razor-sharp execution and smart play and had the NBA's best record in the 97-98 season and took apart a more talented Laker squad (which was on a roll after having destroyed the Sonics in a 4-1 in the West Semi Finals) in the Western Conf. Finals, 4-0. This in addition the fact that the squad had gained valuable playoff experience the previous season by reaching the NBA Finals where it faced the Chicago Bulls, but losing the series in six games. Thus with the team now having court-advantage in their re-match with the Bulls for the 97-98 NBA Finals, a championship seemed to be with in its grasp and it seemed even more so after the team won the first game in over time. They lose a heart-breaker in game two at home, and then lose games three and four in Chicago but pull out a victory in game five and bring the series back to Utah. It appears that the Jazz are going to win game six and force game seven after John Stockton hits a three pointer in the game's final minute to give the Jazz a 86-83 lead. However Michael Jordan scores a quick layup then comes up with a steal and then knocked down the game winning jumper in game six. Were it not for No. 23 this team wins a championship and even though it didn't bring home the 'chip it can be still considered a great NBA team.
