Before the Miami Heat Big 3, there was the 1997 Houston Rockets. While Houston's three-headed monster were near the end of their respective careers, all the guys were still extremely competitive. At the end of the '96-97 season, Hakeem Olajuwon averaged 23.2 points and 9.2 rebounds, Charles Barkley posted 19.2 points and 13.5 rebounds per game and Clyde Drexler had a solid 18 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. The Western Conference Finals would be their last hurrah.
I watched this game live. I litterally cried. Knowing the history of Malone-Stockton franchise, this was their ultimate highlight. When the announcer said "you never see this group so happy " this was true!
A lot of people missed how great a player Stockton really was because the Jazz were rarely on TV. People knew him as an assist king who could shoot the occassional 3. The last 2 minutes of this game were his shining moment in the NBA and showed that he was capable of taking a game over, something many people didn't know he was capable of.
That Houston team was one of the first Dream Team for NBA rosters that wasn’t built through the draft. With HoF players like Barkley, and Drexler, added to Olajuwon, Horry and Smith, Houston was coming off Back to back Championships with Jordan in the midst of retirement, Houston was Knocked out in 96 by Seattle, and decided to load up for the 97 season, but it was Utah and their fundamentally sound system that had the best improvement finally avenging their heartbreak from the previous year, where they had lost game Seven on the Road in Seattle. Their reward for Winning the west was a date with MJ & the Bulls
I'll never forget this night. I can't ever remember a time when my whole family had been screaming so loud with joy when Stockton hit that shot. It just doesn't get any better than this!
Thanks for putting this up dude. One of the greatest moments of my life, I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when stockton sank this three
yeah but it led to nothing! the jazz picked the wrong year to finally figure it all out. 1994 and 1995 were the years (no Jordan), and the Jazz blew it both times!
Really if they were boss, why didn’t they win shit and don’t just say Michael. They were together for 10 years before they even ran into Michael and still didn’t win when Michael left after 1993 or 1998
I'm stoked that you posted this vid also. I, too remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. I was at home and we had a bunch of kfc, and when Stock drained the three I started jumping on the couch and slamming on the windows with greasy hands. Momz made me clean the window. Good times.
im a knicks fan and even im getting chills...one of the greatest calls in nba history and what a fucking amazing series. "JOHN STOCKTON SENDS THE UTAH JAZZ TO THE NBA FINALS!"
I was a Rockets fan at the time so this was a very dark moment, But the one thing tha made me sleep better....the Jazz got burned by multiple last second shots the next two years by the Bulls. So I take my solace in that and the fact that Stockton and Malone (two of the dirtiest players alive) never won rings nor did their cheating ways mentor, Jerry Sloan. Poetic justice!
one of the most incredible games ever. remember watching over and over again. rockets would never beat them with barkley or without barkley. rockets were old back then and jazz were the best team of the league on regular season. they swept Shaq and Kobe on following year and in that year won 4 x 1. Sad for Barkley who again lost a chance to go to Finals because of a 3 pointer at the end of game (previously by Ellie and Paxson)
Stockton was drafted the same year as Hakeem and Barkley and Drexler was drafted the year before. Malone was a little younger, but not much. The Rockets had no team losing Cassell, Horry, Maxwell, Smith and Thorpe. That's four starters and the 6th man from the 94 championship team.
5:26, don't even watch Stockton, watch what Karl Malone does to Clyde Drexler, who's guarding Stockton. That might be the most illegal screen in the history of basketball, he wiped Clyde completely, and his feet weren't even close to set for any of it. He practically grabbed Clyde, and carried him to half court. Sad part is, the Rockets had the team that gave Chicago fits, and probably would have won the finals.
As a Jazz fan I feel your pain. See game 6 in the finals with Bulls and Jazz. Pippen hits the 3, clear shot clock violation, they count it but replay shows it was no good. Eisley hits a 3, waved off, clearly by a wide margin it was good on replay. They didn't do replay back then. If they had reviews on plays back then, the Jazz are up 7 when MJ pushes off and wins his 6th. At the least there should have been a game 7. Point is, it doesn't matter, missed calls and such are part of the game. At least the Rockets did win it. Any other year that Jazz team wins a title. Not even a doubt.
Keep in mind the crucial difference between the two. After 1998, the Bulls basically fell apart; their coach left, all of their good players left, and within 2 or 3 years the bulls had an entirely different roster. On the other hand, the Jazz experienced the slow changes in the team that are normal in the NBA. You cannot compare any situation to that of the Bulls, it is rather unique.
@@w0nd3r6 Chicago defeated Utah in the 1997 Finals by a combined 4 points. One of the closest Finals in history. If Utah wasn't a great team, then neither was Chicago.
@solcreate Who's talking about utah? i was replying to that user above saying how the rockets were such a dominating team and yet they couldn't get pass the jazz. And the bulls may not have had there best team in 97 but they were good enough to win there 5th title it be it by 1 or 4 points
@@w0nd3r6 You were asserting that Houston was not all that great if they couldn't "even get past the Jazz". It's pretty easy to understand and surmise that you were saying that Utah wasn't all that great through such an assertion. Further, you make fun of the idea of another team being dominant due to result, yet don't care about the details -- and, selfsame, result -- of Chicago's narrow victory over Utah. Such a narrow victory speaks to 1) how great a team Utah was and 2) a lack of dominance on Chicago's part, as they were within two shots of losing the title. These details matter, particularly considering how you're attempting to frame this era and the three teams being discussed.
I'm also glad that a young guy like you pays tribute to great players and teams from the past. Most guys your age don't have an idea just how great folks like Kareem, Dr. J, Bird, Magic, Barkley and of course Stockton and Malone, and MJ and Pippen, were. 80's and 90's NBA was basketball at its best! And CBS and especially NBC coverage beats ABC easily. See that shot of Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich at 6:48. Once Stockton was open, Rudy T. knew it was over. The Jazz didn't beat the Bulls in the 1997 Finals, but they sure gave them a battle, and in 1998 too.
To say that Mario elie missed three at 0:43, is a huge understatement. Pity the Rockets kind of choked this game away and did not have the opportunity to play for a finals berth in game 7. A Bulls vs Rockets finals? A four time champion vs a two time champion? Another rematch with Barkley for MJ and Pippen.
This was the nail in the coffin for that Rockets run they had in the mid-90’s. Everything went to shit from here on lol. They blew a 3-2 lead against GS a few years ago in the WCF, with CP3 and Harden. They were an inch from going to the finals, but fell apart. They’ve pretty much been a joke every other year since the Olajuwon era ended.
You're absolutely right. Malone moved that screen for almost 3 seconds without the one of the refs even spotting it. It can be that the refs themselves were in such tension that they weren't lookin or they just wouldn't give these fouls at the last second (1998 MJ's last shot, if it even WERE a foul, which I doubt). Oh, well. It would've been great watchin Jordan's and Pippen's Bulls play the finals against Barkeyl's, Drexler's and Hakeem's Rockets b/c Houston had won 2 rings in MJ's absence....
To this day not many people noticed how Karl Malone literally bear-hugged Clyde Drexler which is how Stockton ended up so wide open. Had the refs been paying attention and called the blatant offensive foul, the basket would have been no good. It's for that (dirty) play that I am glad Stockton and Malone retired with no championships. Thank you, Michael Jordan. :)
the jazz was such an amazing team. were it not for them we wouldve seen the jordan/pippen against olajuwon, barkley, and drexler here and then shaq/kobe the following year
Todays NBA ruined the chance for moments like this. A pair of hall of famers in a very tough conference fighting for 10+ years together, never bailing on the franchise and getting close so many times to finally break through.
Its funny how everyone knew where they were at when Stockton hit the three. I was listening to the game in my car in the grocery store parking lot. I ran inside and starting cheering afterwards. It was awesome...GO JAZZ!
Man, Stockton just glides down the floor. Check him out when he has the ball and he's coming back on a fast break.. it's like his feet barely touch the ground. It's awesome to see him again.
I don't think he was rooting for the Rockets, but he knew someone blew their defensive assignment BIG TIME and he knew leaving John Stockton wide open was a death warrant.
I'm not going to lie, I was a HUUUGE Rockets fan at this point in time and hated the Jazz, but they nasty. Stockton and Malone were skilled as hell. Made everything look easy.
They have just as good a chance as anybody to win the finals. The analyzers last year said that the top three teams in the West in the next five to ten years will be the Hornets, Jazz, and Lakers.
this was the best moment of my childhood. you can always argue about a moving screen and people always seem to find ways to argue against the Jazz, but when it comes don to the last few sconds of any team the refs always just let them play.
I don't know how you can call the 1995 Rockets vs Jazz series an easy beatdown. It was very close and needed a big 4th Quarter run in game 5 to pull it out 3-2 for Houston.
He sure did. Although the King of Assists, when the game was in the line, John shifted into being more aggressive. I always felt more comfortable under pressure situations to see Stockton take the big shots instead of Malone. In fact the biggest shots in Jazz history were made by Stockton (this shot sending the Jazz to the Finals, last second shot against the Kings avoiding playoff elimination (Jazz went on to win the series, big shots and plays in game 4 vs. Bulls in 1997 down the stretch and countless buzzer beaters in his career).
Some clip is missing. When Stockton made the floater, Houston apparantly got the ball but didn't score & left Utah with time to score & thats what John Stockton,(the greatest point guard of all time),did. I watched this game & remembered game4 where Houston won in a similar fashion Revenge is good. Ive carried Utah from '96 & those two yrs 97 & 98 were happy moment 4 me. We're on a rise now.UTah Jazz= the most successful underrated team in the NBA's history.BTW Utah> Houston eternally!!
p.s. i love stockton in the post-game interview: "nobody gave up" ... the dude single-handedly willed utah to victory. russell hit a big 3, but john, you scored the last 9 points! he he
This is when basketball was intense everybody fought to the Championship Ring. Today's game everybody takes the easy way out by going to different teams instead of continuing to make there legacys such a shame
oh, and by the way, did anyone notice that there was no buzzer after stockton hit the shot? the clock shows triple zeroes ... but no buzzer. just a ref's whistle. kinda cool.
Utah Jazz was the Number 1 team in the west with a record of 64- 18, while the Bulls was 69-13 nba's best record. While in 1998 both teams are tied at number 1 for 60-22 record but the Utah Jazz had the homecourt advantage because they defeat the Bulls in their matchup series 2-0. The Bulls' 2nd 3peat is something, eh. The Bulls defeated the best team in the west for the straight seasons. They defeated the Sonics in '96 the best team in the west with a record of 64-18.
it doesn't matter any more, it was like ten years ago so just forget it. the jazz will never win a championship, but that is something that all us jazz fans will have to realize at some point
