Third-quarter slump notwithstanding, the Jazz were back in coach Jerry Sloan's good graces by Thursday night, which was a good thing for them. No telling whose neck Sloan might wring if the Jazz lost to the Denver Nuggets.
After two straight road losses last weekend, the Jazz were back at the Delta Center, where they mashed the Nuggets 115-100. The Nuggets gave it a spirited run, closing the Jazz's 15-point lead down to three in the third quarter. But it wasn't the best time to meet the Jazz, who were planning mayhem and hoping to prove to Sloan that they are paying attention as the stretch run approaches."I don't think we were ever out of his good graces," insisted Karl Malone after scoring a game-high 31 points. "We have too much basketball to play, and we weren't ever out of his graces totally."
Maybe. But they had to be close. After losing to San Antonio and Houston last week, Sloan walked out on Tuesday's practice. Not the action of a happy camper.
By Thursday, the Jazz seemed to be back in focus, much to the chagrin of rookie-of-the-year candidate Dikembe Mutombo. Mutombo found soon enough that the Jazz were serious, bringing in his 17-point scoring average and leaving with a five-point night. There wasas generous amount of woofing and posturing, a respectable amount of serious body contact and, finally, an assertive push by the Jazz to pull away at the end.
"That is a good team," said Nuggets' coach Paul Westhead. "You can't mess with them . . . We did the best we could."
For most of the night, the Nuggets were in no danger of messing with anyone. The Jazz established an 8-0 early lead and harrassed the Nuggets out of their plan. Thought they attempted to go to their star, Mutombo, he was having an awful time dealing with Jazz center Mark Eaton. Whatever Mutombo put up seemed to get tattooed to his forehead.
"I don't have anything say about this game . . . that's all," groused Mutombo.
Eaton wasn't only one picking on the rookie, in collecting seven blocks. He stuffed Cadillac Anderson's shot 11/2 minutes into the game and soon after. Even guard John Stockton got into the spirit of things, blocking a shot of Mark Macon's from behind.
Later in the period, Eaton forced Mutombo into a brick that rattled off the glass without touching the rim, then rejected a Mutombo shot that ended up in a jump ball.
The Jazz led 30-20 after one quarter.
Through much of the game, the Nuggets and Jazz engaged in trash talking that boiled over on a couple of occasions. Stockton and Mutombo tangled legs and went down in the second period and exchanged words when they arose. Malone, ever wary of Stockton being his main meal ticket to the hoop, stepped in and argued with Mutombo until play resumed.
The most serious threat of disturbing the peace came in the third quarter. The Mailman and Anderson exchanged words, pushed arms at one another and finally drew a double technical. "There was some talk," said Eaton, "but I think they (the Nuggets) were frustrated to some degree."
While the Jazz worked through a poor 33-percent third-quarter shooting effort, Denver crept up, led by Winston Garland's eight points. Utah's 15-point lead was down to six by the end of the period and three with 7:35 to go in the game.
Sloan didn't exactly panic. "There wasn't anything to be scared of. This isn't a war, and there weren't any bombs going off in the building. It's just a basketball game, but it's just one of those things that you let slip away from you," he said.
With the Jazz clinging to a 92-89 lead with 6:35 to go, they scored nine points in a row, moving swiftly out of reach.
"We played about as hard as we could," continued Westhead. "We got within three and missed a layup and just couldn't keep a good team like that down for long. We have to cash in. We can't play much better."
The Jazz's return to the winning column came none too soon. Saturday they entertain Pacific Division leader Portland, in the second of five games at home. Said the Mailman, "You know we're going to win, we're here in the Delta Center. You know that."