The Jazz beat Toronto Tuesday without reserve forward Donyell Marshall, who sat out due to the left-knee sprain he sustained in Utah's loss at Charlotte last Saturday.

A Jazz spokesman, however, said Marshall should be ready to go for Utah's next game, Thursday against Vancouver at the Delta Center.

Marshall was diagnosed Sunday as having a moderately sprained collateral ligament. He did not practice Monday and spent Tuesday morning working with a physical therapist to strengthen the knee.

SMART MAN: Moments after passing Wilt Chamberlain for second place on the NBA's all-time scoring list Tuesday night, Karl Malone found himself near the Jazz bench. He was greeted there by, among others, center Olden Polynice, who pushed Malone back onto the floor for more congratulations.

Asked if he was the one who shoved Malone, Jazz coach Jerry Sloan pleaded innocence: "No, that wasn't me," he said. "I don't ever want to shove Karl Malone."

Two baskets after the big one, a turnover stopped play. That's when Malone received hugs and handshakes from everyone around him, including veteran guard Mark Jackson of the Raptors.

All the while, Jazz fans stood and cheered.

"I felt like the football player that scored the winning touchdown," Malone said, "and everyone piled on top of me."

SCROOGE: One man on the floor Tuesday who seemed to care less what Malone had done was ref Marc Davis, who actually tossed the Mailman from his party.

With 50.4 seconds remaining, Davis hit Malone with his second technical of the game, an automatic ejection. Malone — who will be fined $1,000, or $500 for each tech — made no apologies for exiting early.

"I still play with fire," he said, "and that's just part of it.

"I'll remember it," Malone added, "because I got kicked out of the game."

OLD NEWS: The Raptors sensed they fell victim to a team of dinosaurs in 37-year-old Malone, 38-year-old John Stockton and the rest of the mostly thirtysomething Jazz.

"I guess experience always prevails," said center Kevin Willis, who at 38 himself is one of the elder statesmen on a generally youthful Toronto team. "We matched up pretty good with those guys as far as athleticism and being able to keep up with them up the floor, but they're such a great team with execution late in games.

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"They've been in this position a lot of times."

CERTIFIABLE: Jazz fans attending Tuesday's game were presented with a numbered and dated certificate marking Malone's passing of Chamberlain.

MISC.: Malone blocked three first-quarter shots, leaving him 14 shy of 1,000 in his career. . . . Toronto was without star Vince Carter, who missed his fourth straight game due to a strained quad in his left leg, and forward Charles Oakley, who is suspended for supposedly slugging Los Angeles Clippers guard Jeff McInnis during a shootaround last Friday. . . . Jackson played 22 minutes despite mildly spraining his right ankle during practice Monday. "Not having Mark 100 percent really hurt us," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens said. . . . Toronto on Tuesday placed forward Kornel David (back spasms) on the injured list and activated 7-foot-2, 306-pound rookie center Garth Joseph, who went scoreless with one rebound in five minutes. . . . Toronto's Del Curry, the Jazz's first-round draft choice in 1986, finished with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from 3-point range. . . . With 12 points and 13 assists Tuesday, Stockton now needs 20 points for 17,000 and 40 assists for 14,000.


E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com

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