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After the series between the SuperSonics and the Lakers concluded, the second rounds for both the Eastern and Western Conferences were set.
The Utah Jazz would face the Los Angeles Lakers, while the Portland Trail Blazers' opponents would be the third-seeded Houston Rockets in the West.
They advanced to the second round by defeating the Phoenix Suns 3-1 quite comfortably in the first round.
This marked the Rockets' first playoff encounter with the Trail Blazers since 1988, a span of nine years.
At the same time, it had been 11 years since the two teams' seven-game battle in the 1986 Western Conference Finals—a series that determined the fate of Gan Guoyang's career.
In those 11 years, everything had changed significantly; from the coach to the players, no one from the 1986 Rockets remained on the roster.
