Utah are ahead in the Western Conference First Round 3-1, after a 119-89 trouncing of Portland that should put an end to the verbal sparring match. Perhaps in an effort to bolster his overmatched team's confidence, Portland coach Bob has been all over the paper and evening news predicting an easy victory. Just before gametime he said, "Records don't mean anything coming into a game like this. We all know who's the better team, and we're going to show it." These words turned out to be true, but not in the sense he had meant them.

Utah coach Coach Young refused to trade jabs before the game, instead leaving the job to his superior team. Afterwards, he thought Bob's strategy curious. "No offense, but if you've got the crummy team and go around saying stuff like that, you just look like an idiot. Did he think we would actually believe that garbage? Maybe he should have invested his time coming up with a game plan rather than a press conference speech."

Utah was led by Hill (26 points, 9 boards, 3 assists), Baker (7 points, 11 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks), Perkins (24 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks). Portland was led by Smith (25 points, 9 boards, 1 assists, a block), Vanderveer (9 points, 9 boards, 0 assists), Richardson (10 points, 1 assists, a steal).

box score Utah* roster Portland roster