[Comey]

1987-88 NBA Championship: Chicago Bulls vs Utah Jazz
Part One

The Jazz beat the Bulls two years ago, winning the second of back-to-back championships. Despite winning 67 games a year ago, they were bounced in the second round, denying the Bulls a chance at prime redemption. The Jazz have been somewhat gutted, losing a couple key players (including All-NBA 2nd Teamer, Albert Scott, to the Pacers last year). Of course, they still have a lot of talent. Here’s a comparison of both teams:

PG: Craig Cooper (15.1 ppg, 4.9 apg, 2.4 rpg, 1.0 spg) vs Gregory Escalera (10.3 ppg, 4.4 apg, 3.8 rpg). Cooper is more instrumental to his team’s offense than Escalera, who is routinely ask just not to screw things up for Jack and Josh. Both are comparable players; however, the nod here has to go to Cooper, who offers more consistency in scoring.
Advantage: Utah

SG: Sammie Snodgrass (14.8 ppg, 6.9 apg, 6.4 rpg, 1.7 spg) vs Ivory Perez (12.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.5 apg). Snodgrass is one of the more underrated talents in basketball, especially at his position. Perez has done well this year, his first as a starter after coming over from Cleveland. But he is not of Snodgrass’ caliber.
Advantage: Utah

SF: Brian Mazza (14.5 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.3 spg) vs Jack Dawkins (29.2 ppg, 11.6 apg, 10.8 rpg, 2.4 spg, 1.9 bpg). Yeah…
Advantage: Chicago

PF: Harris Connors (25.4 ppg, 11.6 rpg, 5.0 apg, 2.1 bpg) vs Joshua Jones (25.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 3.2 apg). Connors is the best power forward in the game, and has been for some time. But Jones is not too far behind. The gap here is not as big as one would think.
Advantage: Utah

C: Royal Bryant (15.5 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 6.5 bpg) vs Chris Henderson (9.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.6 bpg). Henderson is a solid defender, but he is young, and nowhere near in Bryant’s class.
Advantage: Utah

So, is Jack’s immense advantage worth taking some away from Connors and Snodgrass? Can Jones neutralize Connors enough to keep things close? Is Chicago’s home court advantage enough to keep an edge in the series? The two teams split the regular season series, each winning at home.

Prediction: Utah is the better team. Last year may have been a blip in their run at history…but this is a great team. Where they have issues is on offense, where they are 12th in the league in scoring. But, defensively, they are very, very good…top-three in points per game, field goal percentage, and adjusted FG%. The Bulls are not solid on the boards (16th in the league), and could easily falter here. If Utah controls the glass easily, they should be able to sway the series their way.
Utah in 6. They’ll steal one in Chicago, and seal it before allowing the Bulls to get back to Chicago. If it gets to seven, Chicago will win.

Game 1: As if they heard me, Chicago stormed out to a 22-15 lead over Utah after a quarter. However, using 30 points from Royal Bryant, the Jazz stormed back with a 32-18 second, taking a 47-40 lead. They would play to a stalemate the rest of the way, beating the Bulls, 109-101. Bryan added eight rebounds and three blocks, while Harris Connons put up a 20-16-5 night, also with three blocks. Brian Mazza added 20 points and eight rebounds, while Sammie Snodgrass had 15-7-6, and Craig Cooper 12-4-9. The Jazz held a 53-45 edge on the boards. Jack’s 25-10-9 night paced Chicago, while Jones had 20 points and 11 boards. Perez and Escalera scored 13 each.
Utah Leads 1-0

Game 2: Jack went off in this one, punctuating a 40-31 second quarter with a massive dunk over Bryant. His 31-14-14 led the Bulls to a 112-105 win over the Jazz, evening the series. Jones added 28-9-6, while Perez went for 15 points and eight rebounds. The Jazz led 24-21 after a quarter, but the Bulls began to work their way away from Utah. A 74-73 game midway through the third quarter quickly became an 88-77 lead, as the Bulls cruised from there. Connons had 32-18-9 to pace the Jazz, while Bryant added 20 points, 10 boards, and three blocks. Snodgrass added 16-8-8 with three steals.
Series Tied 1-1

Game 3: The series shifted back to Utah, and it was the kind of game the Jazz wanted…a low-scoring slugfest. Brian Mazza’s 29 points led the Jazz to an ugly 89-83 win. The Jazz overcame a combined 6-29 effort by Harris Connons (12-12-5) and Royal Bryant (9-9-4-2-5) to get the win. Sammie Snodgrass scored 19, with five rebounds and seven assists. Jack’s 29-16-6 was the standout…though it took Jack 27 shots to get that 29. Jones went 6-18 from the field for a 15-5-7 night, while Chris Henderson and Gregory Escalera shot equal 3-10s on the evening.
Utah Leads 2-1

Game 4: The Bulls came roaring back in Game 4, blowing by the tired Jazz in the fourth (29-14) to take a 105-97 win. Jones led with 32-12-4, while Jack was more subdued, going for 19-7-7. He usually erupts after games like these. Eddie Shank scored 15 key points off the bench to help the Bulls. Connors’ 25-12-5 with four blocks paced the Jazz, while Snodgrass added 18-4-9, and Craig Cooper 19. Royal Bryant scored 14, with six boards and five blocks. But this is now a three-game series.
Series Tied 2-2