Forget The Lakers- Blazers' Real Rival Is The Jazz

Ask a Portland Trail Blazer fan to name their team's greatest rival. Nine times out of ten, that answer will be "the L*kers".

Yeah, it may be true that the Los Angeles Lakers have been the Trail Blazers' playoff nemesis over the years. And yes, the Lakers will forever be the team Blazer fans love to hate.

But a true rivalry involves mutual feelings. Like contempt, respect, escalated emotion and heightened motivation.

While these feelings are a Blazer staple whenever playing the Lakers, one gets the impression that from LA's perspective, Portland is just another opponent.

The concept of a true rivalry conjures up images of the classic battle: Ali-Frazier, Yankees-Red Sox, Lakers-Celtics.

On that note, I submit that the Utah Jazz have provided the best overall competition and post-season drama for the Trail Blazers through the years. The Blazer/Laker playoff series history has been consistently marked by sweeps (both ways) - one exception being the game-seven meltdown in 2000. Otherwise, these are hardly the ingredients of memorable basketball lore.

Here are the numbers (Lakers vs Blazers)

Regular season wins - Lakers 107 - 82
Playoff wins              Lakers 32 - 16
Series' won               Lakers 9 -2

These numbers indicate a one-sided relationship in terms of dominance. No rivalry here.

Now consider the incredible string of playoff appearances by Portland from 1983 to 2003. Who was running virtually side-by-side with Portland in that stretch? Yep. The Utah Jazz. As division rivals, every game seemed to have playoff implications.

Here are those numbers (Jazz vs Blazers)

Regular season wins - Jazz 67 - 47
Playoff wins              Blazers 19 - 12
Series' won               Blazers 4 - 2

These numbers show a much more competitive and meaningful relationship.

Who can forget the Stockton/Malone pick-and-roll? The flops of Jeff Hornacek or The Mailman's "special delivery" to Brian Grant's face? Or the shrewd cunning of coach Jerry Sloan?

The two teams have followed a similar path in their short histories. Both are small-market franchises with an extremely loyal fan base. Both have flirted with an NBA title, only to be snubbed - twice (the Blazers reached the pinnacle in 1977). Both have young, talented teams bouncing back from the depths.

And now, with the Trail Blazers on the rise and the Jazz just now establishing themselves as a power in the league, the rivalry is heating up again.

The two teams are young and built for the future. Sloan is hungry for his first NBA title and the Blazers are eager to get back to the playoffs. This a recipe for fireworks when the two clubs meet this year.

It's almost a given that the Jazz will repeat as the division champions. That prize brings with it at least a number-four playoff seed. The Trail blazers will presumably have to earn their playoff spot the hard way - with a top-eight finish in the conference.

This sets up the possibility that very soon these two combatants could cross paths once again in the post season. That would be an old, familiar rivalry I would very much relish...

photo:  www.slamdunkcentral.com