In case no one noticed, while John Stockton was getting his NBA record nine jillionth assist Wednesday night, the Utah Jazz were also playing a basketball game.
And, as they have done in most cases recently, playing very well. The Jazz absolutely whomped the Denver Nuggets - say, wasn't that the team that caused Utah such a headache last spring? - by 41 points, 129-88. It was Utah's team-record 14th victory in a row.The Jazz came out hyper, determined to get Stockton's record over with early so they could concentrate on demolishing the Nuggets.
"You could tell his (Stockton's) teammates stepped up and wanted to get it done quickly," said Denver coach Gene Littles, "and they came out, boy, just fired-up, the whole team. And while they were in the process of getting it, they just nailed us pretty good at the same time."
It helped that the fans were into this contest from the start, standing and applauding even during the introductions.
"Our first basket, the crowd went crazy, and they don't usually get into the game that early," Stockton noted.
But it helped even more that the Jazz shot 60 percent from the field (for the second straight game), while holding Denver to 35.1 percent and outrebounding the Nuggets, 51-29.
"We weren't shooting well again, and we didn't defend at all," Littles said. "They (the Jazz) got any shot they wanted."
The Nuggets made it clear early that they had no plans to distract anyone from Stockton's pursuit of the assist record. They accepted their roles as props, at best bit players, in the night's real drama, by hitting just one of their first 10 shots and falling behind 25-4 after an 18-0 Jazz run.
Stockton, meanwhile, made his first assist, to Jeff Hornacek, 1:19 into the game, then had three assists in three possessions over a span of one minute, six seconds. By quarter's end he had six assists and the Jazz had a cozy 35-13 lead. Stockton even came out with 4:33 left for his customary rest; his backup, John Crotty, said he wondered if the crowd might boo his entrance.
"It crossed my mind," Crotty said. "I was the only man who could stop him."
Stockton made the record-breaking assist in the second quarter, to Karl Malone, though it almost went to Tom Chambers. With Malone at the scorer's table, waiting to come in - with an assist from the crowd, chanting "Karl Malone, Karl Malone" - Stockton threw a length-of-the-court pass to Chambers for a would-be layup that a cooperative Nugget knocked out of bounds. On the Jazz's next possession, Stockton fed a bounce pass to Malone, and the Mailman drilled a turnaround jumper. Official time: 6:22.
Malone said he's glad to see things get back to normal for Stockton, who has been a little testy lately with all this media attention.
"When he's ornery, it kind of sifts down through the rest of the team, because he's our captain," Malone said. "Now we can just concentrate on basketball."
If the Nuggets were going to get back into the ballgame, it was then. You'd expect the Jazz to let down a little after the record was reached, and their emotional level did appear to sag a little. But Denver was unable to capitalize, and Malone scored 17 points in the third quarter to finish them.
Seven Jazzmen scored in double figures. Malone AGAIN led all scorers and rebounders with 30 and 14, respectively. He hit 13 of 19 shots; in his last two games he's made 24 of 31, 77.4 percent. David Benoit totaled 19, Hornacek and Adam Keefe (8 rebounds) each scored 18, Stockton (16 assists) and Antoine Carr each contributed 12, and Jamie Watson finished with 10.
Bryant Stith led the Nuggets with 16.
As the Jazz subs continued the onslaught in the fourth quarter, there was one ugly incident. Denver's Dikembe Mutombo popped Chambers in the head with an elbow - some said he did it twice - and Chambers retaliated with a shot to Mutombo's midsection, dropping the 7-foot-2 center. Chambers was ejected, and since officials only saw the retaliation, Mutombo got to stick around.
Considering the way the league has cracked down on such incidents this season, it seems likely Chambers will be suspended, at least for Thursday's game against Houston. That would be a big loss to the Jazz, who are short on big guys and have trouble handling Hakeem Olajuwon anyway.
The Jazz also have a chance against Houston to extend their road winning streak to 16 games. That would tie them with the Los Angeles Lakers for the longest road win streak in NBA history. The players say they are aware of it but try not to dwell on it.
"That's not something that's in our minds," said Antoine Carr. "We just want to win."
Everyone agrees that, right now, they feel like they can't be beaten.
"We're going out just feeling like we're going to win every game," Crotty said. "With that kind of confidence, how can you go wrong?"
GAME NOTES: Stockton, Hornacek and Carr all are on the NBA's top 10 field-goal percentage list . . . Rod Thorn, the NBA's vice president of basketball operations and the guy who hands out suspensions for fighting, had a second-row seat for the Chambers-Mutombo bout . . . Hornacek is 43 points away from 10,000 career points.
*****
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Records: Most consecutive road games won
16 Los Angeles Lakers
Nov. 6, 1971 - Jan. 7, 1972
15 Utah Jazz*
Nov. 27, 1994 - present
*current streak
Upcoming Jazz road games:
Tonight at Houston
Feb. 4 at Dallas
Assists Leaders: NBA career assists
1. JOHN STOCKTON 9,927
2. Magic Johnson 9,921
3. Oscar Robertson 9,887
4. Isiah Thomas 9,061
5. Maurice Cheeks 7,392
6. Lenny Wilkens 7,211
7. Bob Cousy 6,955
8. Guy Rodgers 6,917
9. Nate Archibald 6,476
10. John Lucas 6,454