John Stockton had to wait until shortly into the second quarter for his fourth assist of Saturday night's game and the 5,000th of his career.
He almost had his fourth assist on a pass to Darrell Griffith for a 40-foot shot at the end of the first quarter, but referee Earl Strom was overruled and the shot was not allowed. Stockton finished with 11 assists and needs 63 in his last five games to break his NBA season record of 1,128.Karl Malone still needs 31 points for 10,000 in his career. He got one technical for no reason, just kicking the ball. Shortly after that, Karl was gone with another technical called by Strom.
But then in the third period the Jazz started getting hot and made a great comeback and tied the game at 65. With 4.8 seconds left, Mitchell Wiggins buried both free throws and the Jazz lost by four.
After the game, Houston Coach Don Chaney said it was unusual that his team got off to such a good start in the Salt Palace. He also said the officiating was really good.