Jazz Hold On To Beat T'Wolves

April 15, 1998 / 2:42 AM EDT / CBS/AP

If the playoffs began on Wednesday, the Utah Jazz would have home-court advantage all the way through the NBA Finals.

But Jerry Sloan doesn't want to hear about it.

"We lost our rhythm because we looked at the score," Sloan said after the Jazz nearly blew a 25-point lead before beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-109 on Tuesday night. "You start looking at the newspaper and feeling good about yourself, and your arms aren't long enough to pat yourself on the back."

Karl Malone had 44 points, 14 rebounds and six assists in his fourth straight monster game for the Jazz, who matched the Chicago Bulls' 60-19 record with the win. The Jazz hold the tiebreaker edge by virtue of their season sweep of the Bulls.

Sloan was peeved because Utah exploded to a 25-point first-half lead before allowing the Timberwolves to cut it to seven in the fourth quarter.

"We have to get everybody on the same page defensively, and I don't think we're there," Sloan said. "Maybe our guys are starting to think ahead to two weeks from now, but there's games we have to win right now."

Minnesota, which beat Utah 110-103 on April 11 to end Utah's six-game winning streak, made a 19-9 run over the final 5:36 of the third quarter and cut a 17-point Utah halftime lead to seven at 89-82 entering the fourth.

But Malone scored 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Jazz made a 12-5 run to fight off the hard-charging Timberwolves, who rebounded from a subpar first half with 62 second-half points. Malone is averaging 42.3 points per game in his last four games and went 16-for-19 from the free-throw line on Tuesday.

Stephon Marbury led the Wolves' comeback with 14 points after halftime. He had 25 points and 13 rebounds in the game, but he also had seven turnovers on Tuesday and was just 6-for-17 from the field.

"In the second half, we came out and played aggressive defense," Marbury said. "(But) we wasted so much energy trying to get back in the game in the third quarter that we ran out of time."

Utah won its 11th straight home game, while the Timberwolves had their five-game winning streak snapped. Kevin Garnett finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Jeff Hornacek had 20 for Utah, while Chris Morris and Bryon Russell added 17 apiece off the bench.

Marbury led the Wolves in scoring in each of their four games against Utah this season, averaging just under 30 points a game.

"We're getting tired of chasing him around," Sloan said. "Hopefully we won't have to see him again this season."

The Jazz never trailed for the second straight home game and blew the game open in the first half, outrebounding Minnesota 23-12 and going 20-for-21 from the free-throw line. Malone had 18 first-half points, and Morris dded 11 in just eight minutes.

The Timberwolves didn't arrive in Salt Lake City until 2:30 on Tuesday morning, and it showed as Utah jumped to a quick 14-3 lead. Malone scored 15 first-quarter points and was 7-for-7 from the free-throw line in the quarter. Marbury and Garnett were a combined 1-for-9 from the field.

Utah's offensive onslaught continued in the second quarter. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Russell capped a 17-6 run and gave Utah a 44-25 lead with 9:08 left. Garnett didn't get his first field goal until the 7:25 mark.

Notes: Utah forward Antoine Carr returned to the lineup after missing 13 games with a strained hamstring. Minnesota guard Micheal Williams returned after missing two games with a sore knee, while center Stanley Roberts played and scored five points after being out for three games with a lower back strain. ... Among the items confiscated from Jazz superfan Richard Anderson after Minnesota coach Flip Saunders complained he was distracting the Timberwolves' free-throw shooters: a Jazz flag, a brightly colored oversized basketball, a megaphone, several masks of Malone's face and a rubber chicken. ... When Roberts fouled out with 1:07 to play, he and referee Ed Middleton engaged in a heated discussion which ended with Middleton telling Roberts, "I'm going to remember you. I never forget."