Thirty years ago today, the Utah Jazz handled business at the Delta Center.
Utah defeated the San Antonio Spurs 108-81 in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals on May 16, 1996, closing the series 4-2 and ending San Antonio's season before it could return home for a Game 7.
The Jazz controlled the elimination game from start to finish. Their defense locked in, their offense flowed through Karl Malone and John Stockton with the kind of quiet inevitability that made Utah so difficult to beat on their home floor that spring. The Spurs never found enough rhythm to threaten Utah's lead. By the fourth quarter, it wasn't a game anymore.
The Stage Is Set in the West
The win sent Utah to the Western Conference Finals, where Malone, Stockton and the Jazz would meet Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and the Seattle SuperSonics - a matchup that promised to be one of the most physical and compelling series of the era.
Seattle had been one of the best teams in the Western Conference all season, with Payton's defensive intensity and Kemp's explosive interior game giving the Sonics multiple ways to win. Against a Jazz team built on discipline and execution, it figured to be a series decided by inches.
The East Was Already Written
One night earlier, the Orlando Magic defeated the Atlanta Hawks 96-88, completing their own series and setting up the Eastern Conference Finals matchup the league had been anticipating all postseason: Shaquille O'Neal's Magic against Michael Jordan's 72-win Chicago Bulls.
There had been concern around O'Neal following reports of irregular heartbeats during the Atlanta series, but he was subsequently cleared by a cardiologist. Orlando would have their franchise center healthy for the Bulls. Not that it would matter.
The Picture Was Complete
By May 16, 1996, the conference finals bracket had snapped into focus:
East: Chicago Bulls vs. Orlando Magic.
West: Seattle SuperSonics vs. Utah Jazz.
The Bulls would go on to sweep the Magic. Seattle would eventually emerge from the West to meet Jordan in the Finals - a stage that produced one of the most iconic championship runs in NBA history, capping the 72-win season with a title and completing the legacy of the greatest team of that era.
But on May 16, 1996, none of that had been written yet. The Jazz were celebrating. The Spurs were going home. And the 1996 NBA playoffs were moving toward one of the most memorable finishing runs the league has ever seen.
