DENVER — So when will the Jazz open postseason play? It's all in the hands of Scotty Bowman and his boys.
That's right: The date of Utah's opening Western Conference playoff game this season depends on — get this — a hockey game. According to the Jazz, they won't know when they open the postseason until after tonight's first-round NHL playoff game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Detroit Red Wings.
So far, the Bowman-coached Red Wings lead the best-of-seven series 3-0. If the Red Wings win tonight, sweeping the series, the Jazz will open at home on Saturday. If the Kings win, extending their postseason fate and bringing the series to 3-1, the Jazz will open at the Delta Center on Sunday.
And here's why:
The NBA does not want marquee Western Conference games involving both the league-leading Los Angeles Lakers and the Midwest Division-champion Jazz to be played on the same day this weekend. The NHL's Kings are actually a primary tenant in the STAPLES Center, which is also home to the Lakers and the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers. A series sweep by the Wings would end the Kings' season and guarantee weekend availability of the building for the Lakers, who would get the primo Sunday date, pushing the Jazz to Saturday. But if the Kings win, it is possible they also could need the arena for a potential Game 6 of the series on Sunday, meaning the NBA would have to settle for the media-darling Lakers on Saturday while the Jazz get pushed up to Sunday.
NUMBERS GAME: Karl Malone had three assists in Utah's overtime loss at Denver on Tuesday night, pushing him over 4,000 for his career and making him just the fourth player in NBA history to score 20,000-plus points, pull down 10,000-plus rebounds and dish 2,000 or more assists.
Malone's first assist of the night, a pass that Jeff Hornacek converted into a 15-foot baseline jumper early in the third quarter, marked No. 4,000.
Malone now has 31,023 career points, 12,610 rebounds and 4,002 assists. The others in his company: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points, 17,440 rebounds and 5,660 assists), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points, 23,924 rebounds and 4,643 assists) and Charles Barkley (23,775 points, 12,545 rebounds and 4,214 assists through Tuesday).
MISC.: With Tuesday's loss, the Jazz finished 9-10 in the first game of back-to-backs this season. . . . Hornacek made 3-of-3 free throws, making him .949 from the line — .09 worse than Calvin Murphy's NBA-record mark of .958 in a season but still the third-best percentage all-time. . . . Greg Ostertag's four blocked shots Tuesday give him 42 in his last 14 games.
You can reach Tim Buckley by e-mail at tbuckley@desnews.com