Jazz March To Victory

Thirty-five points!

Never in the 526 games that make up the Los Angeles Lakers fabled playoff history had they been beaten as badly as they were in Saturday's 112-77 debacle against the Utah Jazz in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

"It wasn't very pretty fellas," Lakers coach Del Harris said. "It's a bad combination one team playing great and one team playing lousy."

Maybe, in some twisted way, this is a good omen. The previous worst playoff loss for the Lakers was the "Memorial Day Massacre," Game 1 of the 1985 NBA Finals, when they lost to Boston 148-114. Los Angeles came back to win four of the next five to capture the NBA championship.

Karl Malone, whose 29 points led the Jazz, pointed to more recent history as a lesson. The Lakers lost to Seattle 106-92 in Game 1 of this year's conference semifinals, then won the next four games.

Malone was in no mood for celebration despite the blowout.

"In this business, you've got to stay on an even keel," Malone said, "Don't get too high after a win and don't get too low after a loss. That's what I've done for 13 years and that's what I'm going to do now."

But this was no mere loss. The Lakers came into Utah with a young, cocky offensive juggernaut and were beaten like Evander Holyfield's punching bag.

Utah reserve Howard Eisley matched his playoff career best with 14 points, 12 of them to ignite the blowout in the second quarter. Seven Utah players finished in double figures.

Game 2 in the best-of-7 series is Monday night at the Delta Center.

Shaquille O'Neal, an unstoppable brute in the Lakers' romps over Portland and Seattle in the first two rounds of the playoffs, looked like a befuddled rookie against the Jazz, especially in the first half.

But then, so did nearly all the Lakers. The Jazz, meanwhile, tore apart the Lakers' defense for one open shot after another.

Utah led by as many as 30 points in the first half. Los Angeles never came closer than 20 in the second half.

The Lakers shot 30 percent from the field (23-for-77), their worst shooting performance ever in the playoffs.

O'Neal, shooting 64 percent from the field and averaging just under 30 points a game in the playoffs, was 1-for-6 in the first half with five points and six turnovers. He finished with 19 points on 6-for-16 shooting.

"It was just one of those days," O'Neal said. "I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Utah coach Jerry Sloan said O'Neal stopped himself more than the Jazz stopped him.

"I think he mishandled the ball more than anything," Sloan said. "It was probably anxiety as much as anything. I don't think this game is an indication of the team we're up against."

Malone said he could fel for O'Neal.

"You know what guys, we are human," Malone said. "We do have off games. Shaquille has off games as does Karl. It's just one game. How many awesome games has he had in a row to get them here? It's just one of those games."

Kobe Bryant scored 16 points for the Lakers and Rick Fox added 15.

The Jazz, obviously at ease in their third consecutive conference finals, never trailed. They took an 18-7 lead and were up 24-13 after the first quarter.

After shooting 56 percent from the field in their three previous games against Seattle, the tight Lakers missed 11 of their first 12 shots and were 9-for-36 (25 percent) in the first half. Utah, meanwhile, shot 56 percent in the first half and 58 percent for the game.

The Jazz dominated the boards, as they did everything else, 51-39.

Malone and John Stockton were mere bit players as the Jazz reserves turned the game into a rout in the second quarter.

Eisley made two quick jumpers and Chris Morris hit a 3-pointer to make it 31-13. Meanwhile, O'Neal committed three turnovers in 2 ½ minutes.

By the time Eisley made the last of his six consecutive field goals, the Jazz were up 42-16 with 8:05 left in the half. Utah stretched the lead to 58-28 on Bryon Russell's spectacular three-point play 2:36 before the half. Russell tossed the ball in underhanded as he was being knocked to the court under the basket by the Lakers' Corie Blount.

The Lakers were down 61-35 at halftime. No team has come back from more than a 21-point halftime deficit to win a playoff game, and the shellshocked Lakers weren't about to break that record.

A basket by Stockton and a three-point play by Malone to start the second half gave Utah a 66-35 lead.

The Lakers' had a 16-5 run to cut the lead to 71-51 on Robert Horry's fastbreak basket. But Stockton made an acrobatic baseline layup and Greg Foster a fastbreak stuff, and the little rally was over.

Foster looked at the Los Angeles bench as he ran down the floor, and raised his finger as if to repeat the throat-slashing gesture that so infuriated the Lakers in a game in March. Instead, he put his fingers to his lips as if to say "shh." No sense riling the Lakers unnecessarily. There are still at least three games left in the series.

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