Jazz Dance Past Shaq, Lakers
For now, supremacy in the West still belongs to the Utah Jazz.
Karl Malone and John Stockton combined for 27 of Utah's 30 points in the fourth quarter when the Jazz rallied to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 100-91 Sunday in a rematch of last season's Western Conference finals.
"If we want to ever beat that team, we have to be smarter and take care of the ball," said Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, who had 37 points and 14 rebounds.
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Last season, the Jazz swept the Lakers in four games, denying Los Angeles its first trip to the NBA finals since 1991. Utah went on to lose to Chicago in the finals.
"It was just like last year in the playoffs. Utah plays us differently than other teams do," Lakers forward Kobe Bryant said. "They're not going to come down and double right away. They're going to dig in with Stockton, so we're just going to have to get some ball movement."
Utah has beaten Los Angeles five straight games, although the Lakers won three of four during the regular season last year.
"I don't feel like we have a psychological advantage or anything," said Malone, the target of loud booing and shouted insults from the sellout Forum crowd of 17,505. "If we execute and do what we need to do as a team, we feel we can play in anybody's building."
Malone, limited to 10 minutes in the first half because of three fouls, and Stockton, who struggled on 4-of-9 shooting in that half, were unsolvable in the final 12 minutes.
"They have a great one-two punch," O'Neal said.
Malone finished with 28 points, and Stockton added 26 points and 11 assists. Bryon Russell had 15 points for the Jazz, who trailed by 13 in the first half.
"The game could have gotten away from us early and we had guys just hang in there," Stockton said. "Bryon Russell made a series of great plays to kind of keep us in the hunt there for awhile."
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| Despite Kobe Bryant's second straight double-double, the Lakers lost. (AP) |
O'Neal and Bryant recorded their second straight double-doubles. Bryant added 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Utah got back into the game on a basket by Stockton that tied it at 75 moments after Malone picked up his fourth foul with 8:39 remaining.
Stockton and Malone combined to outscore Los Angeles 12-2 over the next three minutes as Utah led 87-77 with 4:15 to play. O'Neal made just two of six free throws in that span while the rest of the Lakers missed shots.
"It kind of reminded us how important execution is, not only on the offensive end, but the defensive end," Bryant said. "If we want to get the championship, we've got to execute."
Los Angeles never made a run in the final 3:57 as Malone and Stockton traded trips to the free-throw line. Stockton had Utah's only field goal in that stretch when Utah's largest lead was 11.
"Down the stretch, we blocked out, we helped each other, we got rebounds, we did all the little things, we stayed mentally tough," Malone said.
The Jazz tied the game four times and trailed by one five times in the third quarter, but didn't take the lead until Russell hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left. That capped eight straight points by Russell and sent Utah into the fourth ahead 70-69.
"It was a boost," Russell said of his 3-pointer. "We kept playing hard. We don't win with two people, we win with a team."
Malone had just nine points in the first half. His frustration was evident when he picked up his third just 40 seconds into the second quarter with Utah trailing 26-24.
Todd Fuller, acquired Thursday from Golden State, had no better luck, earning his third foul three minutes later when O'Neal faked him out with a quick move to the right and a basket that had Utah trailing 32-26.
Malone could only watch from the bench as Adam Keefe was called for a flagrant foul against Derek Fisher and Utah coach Jerry Sloan received a technical in the midst of an 8-0 run that gave the Lakers their largest lead of the game, 45-32, with three minutes left in the second.
Notes
Stockton grabbed his 3,000th career rebound in the second quarter. He's already the NBA career leader in assists and steals. ... O'Neal scored in double figures for the 193rd consecutive game. He had 30 points and 14 rebounds in Friday's season-opening win over Houston. ... Bryant started the ninth game of his career, replacing Rick Fox (sore right foot) for the second straight game. ... Lakers center Travis Knight has the lu and did not play.
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