Another ho-hum night at the Delta Center: Karl Malone posts the first triple-double of his long and illustrious career, the Utah Jazz's starting backcourt hits 22 of 28 shots and the Los Angeles Clippers still manage to make it a game.
The Jazz shot 60.6 percent from the field but didn't secure this contest until the final minutes, finally escaping with a 122-113 victory. The win was the Jazz's eighth of their last nine and allowed them to remain just percentage points behind San Antonio in the Midwest Division race.Somehow, though, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan thought it should have been easier.
"We had some good moments where we executed, and you can see what happens when we don't execute - we just barely get through the game," Sloan said.
"We could have stolen this one if the Jazz had their guard down, but they were up for it," said Clippers coach Bill Fitch.
Fitch may have been watching a different game. The Jazz had whipped the Clippers less than two weeks ago in Anaheim by 24 points, then they jumped out to a 24-7 lead in the first seven-plus minutes Friday and ended up shooting a sizzling 73.3 percent in the opening period. They may have been "up for it" at the start, but it was so easy scoring on the L.A. defense that they eventually snoozed, allowing the Clips to grope their way back into the game.
"The guys get out on the floor, and they have their own little agenda, I guess, and they want to play their own way sometimes," Sloan grumbled.
The Jazz continued to shoot well in the second quarter, and rebound well, and do just about everything well except hang on to the ball. They committed six turnovers in the first quarter, six more in the second, which allowed the Clippers to stay within reach despite shooting 42.9 percent in the half. At intermission, the Jazz lead was six, 56-50.
Utah opened the third quarter with a 22-7 run, giving every indication they intended to end it early, but once again L.A. refused to expire. Trailing by 18 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Clips put together a 10-0 spurt to get within eight, 92-84. Nearly nine minutes later they were within six, at 116-110 with 1:43 left in the game, but the Jazz got a jumper and free throw from Jeff Hornacek, and a Malone follow-shot on a missed three by John Stockton, and that pretty much wrapped it up.
Along the way, Malone recorded that first triple-double, which, considering he's played 10-plus years in this league and put up a lot of numbers, is fairly amazing. He's come close a number of times; usually the sticking point is his assist total. He had double figures in points by halftime. The 10th rebound came at the 9:16 mark of the fourth quarter, when he grabbed Adam Keefe's blocked shot. And the 10th assist came with 7:57 left in the fourth, when he dished to Stockton for a layup. The Mailman finished with 27 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists.
The guy who caused Utah the most problems, at least when he was on offense, was guard Terry Dehere. Making a bid to become the heir-apparent to NBA flop artiste Doc Rivers, Dehere threw himself on the floor, repeatedly drawing fouls where no foul appeared to be and getting to the line a game-high 10 times. Give the guy credit, though - when he wasn't faking fouls, or complaining about fouls, he was knocking down jumpers. He made 9 of 15 shots and wound up with 31 points.
On the other hand, the Jazz guards easily matched Dehere's output. Stockton scored a season-high 31 points, making 11 of 15 shots. And Hornacek pitched in 27, hitting 11 of 13. The only other Jazzman to score in double figures was Keefe. He finished with 10 points, seven rebounds.
The Clippers suffered somewhat from a lack of size, getting outrebounded 40-31. Starting center Brian Williams was out with a strained arch, so Fitch opened with out-of-shape Stanley Roberts.
"We got hurt a lot on the boards and giving them second shots and close in," Fitch said. "We also got hurt by starting Stanley and trying to get something out of him early. He just didn't have it."
The Jazz next play Sunday in Los Angeles, against the Lakers.