1990–91 Utah Jazz season

The 1990–91 Utah Jazz season was the 17th season for the Utah Jazz in the National Basketball Association, and their 12th season in Salt Lake City, Utah.^[1] This was also the team's final season in which they played their home games at the Salt Palace. During the off-season, the Jazz acquired former All-Star guard Jeff Malone from the Washington Bullets in a three-team trade.^[2][3][4]

Early into the regular season, the Jazz traveled overseas to Tokyo, Japan to play their first two games against the Phoenix Suns at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium; this marked the first time that two teams in U.S. professional sports played a regular season game outside of North America.^[5][6] In the first game on November 2, 1990, the Jazz were the home team and lost to the Suns by a score of 119–96; Karl Malone and John Stockton both posted double-doubles, as Malone finished with 33 points and 10 rebounds, while Stockton contributed 16 points and 12 assists.^[7][8][9] In the second game on November 3, the Jazz were the road team and defeated the Suns by a score of 102–101; Karl Malone posted a double-double of 29 points and 14 rebounds, while Stockton added 15 points, and Thurl Bailey contributed 15 points and 9 rebounds.^[10][11][12] Both games had an attendance of 10,111 fans at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.^[9][12]

With the addition of Jeff Malone, the Jazz struggled losing six of their first nine games of the regular season, but then won eleven of their next twelve games, which included a six-game winning streak in December. The team posted another six-game winning streak between December and January, and later on held a 30–16 record at the All-Star break.^[13] The Jazz won eight of their final eleven games of the season, and finished in second place in the Midwest Division with a 54–28 record, earning the fifth seed in the Western Conference;^[14] the team made their eighth consecutive trip to the NBA playoffs.^[15]

Karl Malone averaged 29.0 points and 11.8 rebounds per game, and was named to the All-NBA First Team, while Jeff Malone finished second on the team in scoring with 18.6 points per game, and Stockton provided the team with 17.2 points, 14.2 assists and 2.9 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. In addition, Bailey provided with 12.4 points and 5.0 rebounds per game, while second-year guard Blue Edwards contributed 9.3 points per game, Darrell Griffith contributed 5.7 points per game, Mark Eaton averaged 5.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game, and Mike Brown provided with 4.8 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.^[16]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, Karl Malone and Stockton were both selected for the 1991 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team,^[17][18][19] while Edwards participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.^[20][21] Karl Malone also finished in fifth place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Stockton finished in twelfth place;^[22][23] Stockton also finished tied in seventh place in Defensive Player of the Year voting,^[23] and Bailey finished tied in sixth place in Sixth Man of the Year voting.^[23]

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1991 NBA playoffs, and for the second consecutive year, the Jazz faced off against the 4th–seeded Suns, a team that featured the trio of All-Star guard Kevin Johnson, All-Star forward Tom Chambers, and Jeff Hornacek. The Jazz won Game 1 over the Suns on the road by a 39-point margin, 129–90 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum while shooting .651 in field-goal percentage,^[24][25][26] before losing Game 2 on the road by a score of 102–92.^[27] With the series tied at 1–1, the Jazz won the next two games, which included a Game 4 home win over the Suns, 101–93 at the Salt Palace to win the series in four games.^[28][29][30]

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the top–seeded, and Pacific Division champion Portland Trail Blazers, who were led by the All-Star trio of Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter and Kevin Duckworth. The Jazz lost the first two games to the Trail Blazers on the road at the Memorial Coliseum, but managed to win Game 3 at the Salt Palace, 107–101.^[31] However, the Jazz lost the next two games, including a Game 5 loss to the Trail Blazers at the Memorial Coliseum, 103–96, thus losing the series in five games.^[32][33][34]

The Jazz finished 22nd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 514,751 at the Salt Palace during the regular season.^[16][35] Following the season, Griffith was released to free agency and then retired.^[36][37]