In what passes for an NBA game this season - that is to say, a free-throw competition - the Seattle SuperSonics defeated the Utah Jazz here Saturday night, 110-103.
It's hard to tell which was the better team at the cavernous Tacoma Dome. For one thing, anyone watching on TV had a better view of the court than did the media, who were some 40-50 rows away from the action. For another thing, the most active group on the floor were the officials, who simply dominated the game.Consider:
- In the second quarter, Seattle scored two field goals but stayed in the game by attempting 23 free throws. Over the same span, the Jazz attempted three foul shots - all on technical fouls.
- In the first half, the Jazz were whistled for 22 personal infractions. Utah forward Adam Keefe was hit with four fouls in the quarter, Antoine Carr racked up three in an impressive minute and a half of play.
- By halftime, five Jazzmen had three fouls or more.
- At the end, which seemed to occur roughly seven hours after tipoff, a total of 69 fouls had been called, resulting in 99 free throws.
Gag.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan acknowledged that free throws were a factor, but he didn't adopt the usual coach's viewpoint that his team was jobbed. Instead, he blamed his players for not taking advantage of the situation.
"We didn't give ourselves a chance," he said. "We got to the free-throw line four or five times in the fourth quarter, and that's not enough. We relied strictly on the outside shot. You've got to go to the basket in that situation. And they shot 65 free throws, so that shows you how bad we were defensively."
Seattle coach George Karl saw things a little differently.
"The free-throw line was definitely on our side," he said.
This was one game the players, not the free-throw line, should have been allowed to decide. There could have been all kinds of interesting subplots - like how Seattle's Gary Payton would fare defensively against Utah's John Stockton if not allowed to handcheck him into the third row, or how the Sonics would rebound psychically from their demoralizing first-round loss to the Denver Nuggets in last spring's playoffs.
And despite the free throw silliness, this game was a good early-season test for the Jazz, especially considering the way just about everyone outside of Utah said the Jazz would have succumbed to the Sonics had they met in the playoffs. That was based on Seattle's winning three of four regular-season games - well, make that four of their last five regular-season games.
The Jazz had opportunities to win, too. They led 79-78 at the end of three quarters, and they had a lot of good looks at the basket in the final period. The Sonics simply made more big shots down the stretch.
The game essentially was decided in a six-minute stretch of the fourth quarter. With 9:05 left, Utah led 87-84 after two straight field goals by Karl Malone. But Sam Perkins drilled a three, Sarunas Marciulionis made (remarkably) a pair of free throws, and Payton scored on a feed from Detlef Schrempf.
That made it 91-87, and Malone scored again to get the Jazz within two, but Perkins and Payton combined for seven straight points - the last on a slick drive by Payton through the heart of the Jazz defense - to go up by nine.
The Jazz made the obligatory last run, getting to within three at 106-103 on a three-pointer by Stockton with 6.6 seconds left. But Kendall Gill buried a pair of free throws and, despite a flurry of timeouts, nothing much changed afterward.
After an opening night in which the Jazz showed good balance, things were back to normal Saturday, as Malone and Stockton each scored 27 and no one else managed double figures. Malone also had 11 rebounds.
For the Sonics, Schrempf scored 26 (18 at the foul line), Payton added 24 and Shawn Kemp totaled 19.
The Jazz next play Atlanta at the Delta Center on Monday. And if the officials continue to call games the way they called this one, bring a book.