The team with the second-best record in the league, with 62 regular-season wins, faced the Trail Blazers in the playoffs, trailing by 20 points in three of the four games.
The gap between the two sides was so large that players couldn't make up for it with sheer willpower.
In the fourth quarter, Jerry Sloan glanced at his wife watching from the stands, and Barbie waved at him, her eyes full of comfort.
Sloan understood the meaning in his wife's eyes: you and your players have done well enough, it's okay, don't push yourselves, take a rest.
The Jazz weren't a young team, they were one of the oldest in the league, and in just four games, they had been worn out by the Trail Blazers.
Exhausted both mentally and physically, especially Karl Malone, who was heavily suppressed throughout the series and couldn't mount any effective counterattack.
