PHOENIX— It's getting to be old hat for most of the Jazz, winning these division titles.
For some, though, this particular clinching of the Midwest Division championship — which the Jazz did with a 96-82 victory at Phoenix on Sunday night — is a lid that means a lot.
Take veteran center Olden Polynice, who has played 12 prior NBA seasons with four other teams — and never won one. Or retiring guard Jeff Hornacek, who sewed up this one on the night he was honored by the first team for which he played in the league. And then there was small forward Bryon Russell, who just wanted to share the wealth.
Perhaps no one, though, was happier than Karl Malone to help the Jazz win the Midwest for the third time in the past four seasons — and the sixth time in franchise history.
By doing so, Utah (54-26) ensures itself of the No. 2 seed for the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs — and a meeting with either Sacramento or Seattle, who are fighting to finish seventh in the West and avoid a first-round matchup with the NBA-leading Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mailman suggested Utah's feat comes with a message, and that is this: The naysayers never should have underestimated the aging Jazz.
"I don't think too many people had us picked to be in this position — being old, being this-and-that. So it's a great accomplishment for us," Malone said after scoring a game-high 32 points, including the basket that allowed him to join Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain as the only three players in NBA history to surpass the 31,000-point plateau.
"Of all the ones I've won (five total), other than the first one, I think this one right here is more exciting to me than any, even though we're not showing it," Malone added from a locker room inside America West Arena that looked and sounded similar to any other visitors room following a Jazz win on the road. "It's because everybody doubted us, and no one gave us an opportunity to win it."
That may have been Malone's best point on a night he had many that mattered.
Malone made a layup and free throw to make it 38-37 Suns late in the second quarter, setting the stage for John Stockton to hit a 15-foot jumper that gave the Jazz their first lead of the game. A minute later, at the half, the Jazz and Suns were tied at 40. Russell sank an 18-foot jumper for the first basket of the opening half, and the Jazz never trailed again — certainly not after Malone's 13 fueled a third quarter in which Utah outscored Phoenix 28-14.
The Jazz began to pull away following a technical on Malone for complaining too passionately that, while driving to the hole, he was blatantly fouled by Phoenix superheavyweight Oliver Miller. Miller blocked Malone's shot, sending Shawn Marion off for a dunk that preceded a Suns drought. Malone sat on a press table while Cliff Robinson shot and missed the technical, traded barbs with a fan who invoked the name of Rogaine while mocking the Mailman's new all-bald look and perhaps pondered what was to come.
That was this: a 14-0 Jazz run, one that extended Utah's lead from 4 at 52-48 to 18. That span included 5 points from Malone, highlighted by a putback of his own miss that, with 4:28 to go in the third quarter, put him over the 31,000-mark. Utah never led by less than 10 after Malone made a free throw 18 seconds after the milestone basket and ran its lead to as many as 24 before coach Jerry Sloan sent in his subs in the final two minutes.
Then it was time to celebrate, in the Jazz's own been-there, done-that way.
For some, that is.
"Our bigger concern," said Hornacek, who was recognized before the game, "is trying to get in a better groove for the playoffs."
"It's nothing new to me," said Russell, who scored 16. "First time for O.P. (Polynice), though. . . . I promised him that we'd win him one."
"It feels great," said Polynice, who admits the Jazz are on a mission.
"We knew they (doubters) were already out there," he said. "And from talking to Karl (Malone) and some of the other guys, they've been out there forever. I'm just getting a taste of it now — from the fans around the league to the league itself, referees, everybody else. It almost seems like we've taken on an us-against-world attitude, and this is the first step."
It's one the Jazz have no doubts about taking — just like they have little doubt that only a few, if any, will expect them to do much in the playoffs.
"We've been doubted all year long; we'll be doubted again," Malone said. "We went out here and did something that no one gave us an opportunity to do before the season started. I think what they forgot about is the dedication the guys put in to get ready to play this game — and that is about 75 percent of it.
"If you've got the dedication and you've got the desire to play, you can do a lot of things, and I think that is what we've shown this year. We've had our doubters, but we still go out and play our game."
And win their division titles.
You can reach Tim Buckley by e-mail at tbuckley@desnews.com.