Jazz Delivers Without Mailman

Karl Malone's night off was no problem for the Utah Jazz.

Jeff Hornacek scored 18 points and John Stockton had 12 points and 11 assists as the Jazz beat the Vancouver Grizzlies 98-80 Monday night without Malone, who was suspended for throwing a punch at Houston's Othella Harrington on Sunday.

The Jazz used a more wide-open attack in Malone's absence, featuring less post-up play and more opportunities for their outside shooters. Shandon Anderson scored 18 points off the bench, while Bryon Russell had 17 and Howard Eisley 10.

"Mentally, we knew we couldn't lose this game," Anderson said. "(Malone's suspension) kind of gave us advantage, because ... they didn't know who was going to get the ball tonight. A lot of guys got a chance to score and get some easy baskets."

The Jazz won their seventh straight game and tied Portland (28-8) for the league's best record. Utah is an NBA-best 17-1 at home, winning four home games in the last five days.

Malone was named the NBA's Player of the Week earlier in the day and then suspended for the game and fined $4,000 for his actions in Utah's 85-76 win over the Rockets Sunday. He received only a flagrant foul for the incident.

Malone was not in the Jazz's starting lineup for just the second time in the last 585 games. He has missed just six games in his 14-year career two because of suspensions.

But Stockton and Hornacek, who have both been in shooting slumps lately, were a combined 12-for-15 from the field. Both said their games improved because the Mailman was watching at home.

"It's mighty lonely without him out there," Stockton said. "I'm sure everybody feels that way. You just have to tighten up your own play and do what you can to help a little bit extra."

The Jazz beat the Grizzlies for the 15th straight time and remain the only Western Conferene team Vancouver has never defeated. The win was Utah's fifth in the last seven days.

Vancouver has lost 16 straight road games. Shareef Abdur-Rahim, the NBA's third-leading scorer, had 22 points and Mike Bibby added 21, but the Grizzlies looked sluggish a day after a heartbreaking 91-88 home loss to Sacramento.

Vancouver shot just 36 percent, including a 5-for-17 performance by Abdur-Rahim, and trailed for all but the first two minutes of the game.

"We didn't have any energy tonight whatsoever," Vancouver coach Brian Hill said. "I think a long week (five games in seven days) caught up to us tonight."

Though the Jazz were missing their leading scorer, Hill was aware of the quality of Utah's supporting cast.

"We're talking about the best offensive team in the NBA, in my opinion," Hill said. "When somebody's out, the other guys tend to get more focused and execute even better."

Utah's Adam Keefe left the game in the second quarter with a broken nose courtesy of J.R. Henderson's elbow while the two fought for a rebound.

Notes: Bibby had one assist in 33 minutes. ... Malone was suspended for a game last season after flattening San Antonio's David Robinson. The Jazz beat the Clippers 126-109 in that game. ... A number of Jazz fans loudly booed Grizzlies forward Makhtar Ndiaye when he entered the game in the fourth quarter. During the 1997 Final Four, Ndiaye, then at North Carolina, accused University of Utah forward Britton Johnsen of making a racial slur toward him. Ndiaye admitted days later that he had lied. ... The Jazz are the only team to hold all of its opponents under 50 percent shooting this season.

©1999 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed