It didn't seem possible that the Jazz-Spurs series could produce yet another blowout game, but there it was again Tuesday night at the Delta Center, as lopsided as the trade deficit. The Jazz had built the lead to 37 points in the early fourth quarter, and soon the reserves were pulling off their warmups and the fans crowding to the exits.
For the time being, there appears to be only a few questions surrounding the Spurs: Has anyone see Dennis Rodman and Madonna? Has anyone NOT seen them? The NBA's own eccentric Odd Couple is becoming easier to spot these days than the Spurs' offense.For the second straight playoff game, the Jazz built a huge lead and rode the momentum to the finish, mashing the Spurs 105-72. The 33-point margin of victory was second-highest in Jazz playoff annals and the highest ever for a playoff home win.
"It's an amazing feeling," said the Jazz's Karl Malone, attempting to describe the back-to-back blowouts. "But we've also been on the other side of those games, too."
Certainly the Jazz have to be as perplexed as anyone about what's been going on in this first-round series. Last Thursday night they opened in San Antonio with all the enthusiasm of a checkout clerk. The Spurs built a 27-point lead, en route to a 106-89 win.
But just as shockingly, the Jazz came back on Saturday at the Alamodome, charging out to a 30-point lead before pulling back to win 96-84. The two previous blowouts, however, were only the warmup acts to Tuesday night.
"It's not realistic to expect to win them all by 20 or 30 points," warned Jazz center Felton Spencer.
Perhaps not. But so far nothing in this series has been predictable.
The series took on a distinctly carnival tone on the first day when rumors began surfacing that rock star Madonna was going to be at the Alamodome to watch Rodman play. Though the Material Girl never showed, Rodman did - long enough to get himself suspended for a game following a spree of mayhem in Game 2.
When the news was announced Monday that Rodman would miss Tuesday's game and be fined $10,000, it was obvious he wasn't going to have anything important to do that day. Sure enough, he and Madonna soon were cropping up in news reports around the city. There's Worm and the Material Girl coming out of a Salt Lake hotel and climbing into a stretch limousine. There they are working out at a local health club.
What next? A tour of Temple Square?
The suspension of Rodman, in a way, came as a major disappointment to Jazz fans, who had gleefully waited the weekend for the Worm's arrival in Salt Lake. Posters sprung up everywhere in the Delta Center, vilifying Rodman for his part in last Saturday's game that earned his suspension.
With Rodman gone, the Jazz were left to their own devices to fire up the crowd. Four minutes into the game they were leading by 10 points and the Spurs were beginning to look bewildered. Before halftime the lead stretched to 17 and held steady at 14 at the half.
A 17-7 spurt in the early third quarter stretched the Jazz lead to 24 and the rout was on. "The game was over in the third quarter," said Spurs coach John Lucas. "We are not on the same page right now. Somehow we need to get it back before Thursday night and get ready to play."
Indeed, the Spurs have some ground to cover if they expect to extend the series into a fifth game. They shot a disastrous 32 percent from the field for the game. Dale Ellis, who made just five of 14 shots in the first two games, landed only two of 10 in Game 3.
"We have been trying to get Dale going and haven't been able to establish him," continued Lucas.
Meanwhile, the Jazz continued to bury the Spurs from a variety of sources. In Game 2, four players scored in double figures and the Jazz held the Spurs to 35 percent shooting. This time everyone but Walter Bond scored. Karl Malone, who led the Jazz with 24 points, was resting on the sidelines with 10:17 to go in the game and John Stockton followed 31/2 minutes later. The final six minutes featured a possible Jazz lineup for this summer's Rocky Mountain Revue: Walter Bond, Stephen Howard, Bryon Russell, John Crotty and David Benoit.
Were it not for a breakaway dunk at the buzzer, the Spurs would have set the all-time playoff low for points. David Robinson and Antoine Carr led the Spurs with 16 apiece.
Although the Jazz now lead 2-1 in the series and host the Spurs again Thursday, they went to great lengths to avoid the appearance of overconfidence. Last year the Jazz led 2-1 against Seattle but ended up losing in five.
"We have nothing to be overconfident about," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "We haven't done anything yet."