1993–94 Utah Jazz season

The 1993–94 Utah Jazz season was the 20th season for the Utah Jazz in the National Basketball Association, and their 15th season in Salt Lake City, Utah. During the off-season, the Jazz signed free agent All-Star forward, and former University of Utah star Tom Chambers, and acquired Felton Spencer from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

With the addition of Spencer and Chambers, the Jazz played competitive basketball with a 22–8 start to the regular season, but then lost five of their next six games, and later on held a 31–18 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded Jeff Malone to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for All-Star guard Jeff Hornacek. With the addition of Hornacek, the Jazz posted a 10-game winning streak between February and March, and won eight of their final nine games of the season. The Jazz finished in third place in the Midwest Division with a 53–29 record, and earned the fifth seed in the Western Conference; the team made their eleventh consecutive trip to the NBA playoffs.

Karl Malone averaged 25.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and joined the list in all-time points scored topping the 19,000 point mark, while John Stockton averaged 15.1 points, 12.6 assists and 2.4 steals per game, as both players were named to the All-NBA First Team. In addition, Chambers played a sixth man role off the bench, providing the team with 11.2 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, while Spencer averaged 8.6 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, and Tyrone Corbin contributed 8.0 points and 1.2 steals per game. Meanwhile, Jay Humphries contributed 7.5 points per game, David Benoit provided with 6.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and second-round draft pick Bryon Russell contributed 5.0 points per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Malone and Stockton were both selected for the 1994 NBA All-Star Game, as members of the Western Conference All-Star team, while Russell was selected for the inaugural NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Phenoms team. Malone also finished tied in seventh place in Most Valuable Player voting, while Stockton finished tied in eleventh place.

In the Western Conference First Round of the 1994 NBA playoffs, the Jazz faced off against the 4th–seeded San Antonio Spurs, who were led by the trio of All-Star center David Robinson, Dale Ellis, and rebound-specialist Dennis Rodman. The Jazz lost Game 1 to the Spurs on the road, 106–89 at the Alamodome, but managed to win the next three games, which included a Game 4 win over the Spurs at home, 95–90 at the Delta Center to win the series in four games.

In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the team faced off against the 8th–seeded Denver Nuggets, a team that featured defensive shot-blocker Dikembe Mutombo, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, and second-year star LaPhonso Ellis. The Jazz took a 3–0 series lead over the Nuggets, but then lost the next three games, including a Game 6 road loss at the McNichols Sports Arena, 94–91 as the Nuggets evened the series. However, the Jazz managed to win Game 7 over the Nuggets at the Delta Center, 91–81, thus winning in a hard-fought seven-game series.

In the Western Conference Finals, the Jazz then faced off against the 2nd–seeded, and Midwest Division champion Houston Rockets, a team that featured All-Star center, Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year, Hakeem Olajuwon, Otis Thorpe and Vernon Maxwell. The Jazz lost the first two games to the Rockets on the road at The Summit, before winning Game 3 at the Delta Center, 95–86. The Jazz lost the next two games to the Rockets, including a Game 5 road loss at The Summit, 94–83, thus losing the series in five games. The Rockets would go on to defeat the New York Knicks in a full seven-game series in the 1994 NBA Finals, winning their first ever NBA championship in franchise history.

The Jazz finished third in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 814,502 at the Delta Center during the regular season. Following the season, Corbin was traded to the Atlanta Hawks, and Mark Eaton retired after missing the entire regular season due to a back injury.