Robinson Out For Malone, Revenge

May 4, 1998 / 10:31 PM EDT / CBS/AP

The last time the Utah Jazz and the San Antonio Spurs met, Karl Malone knocked out David Robinson by slamming an elbow in his face.

Robinson's planned revenge? Flatten Utah's dreams of an NBA title by winning the Western Conference semifinal series.

"If certain things come up in this series where it gets kind of physical, we'll have to answer to that. But stuff in the past, we have to let that go," the Spurs' star center said.

"We can't go in there with some kind of attitude where we have a chip on our shoulders. We have to go in there with our minds clear because they're going to be ready."

After Robinson got off the Delta Center floor on March 8, he spent the night in the hospital and missed San Antonio's next three games with a concussion. He also strained his knee falling to the court.

Malone, who apologized to Robinson, was suspended for one game, snapping his NBA-best streak of 543 consecutive starts.

The Jazz remember the Spurs' vows of revenge, but they're confident the best-of-7 series that begins Tuesday at the Delta Center won't turn into a Knicks-Heat slugfest.

"It would be out of character for them to do something to try and get back at Karl," Utah guard Jeff Hornacek said. "If that happens, I would be really surprised."

After practice Monday, Malone refused to talk about the fallout from elbowing Robinson, but he did say both teams will be prepared for war.

"It's important for us to do our thing and not worry about the other issues," Malone said. "They stand up for themselves, and we stand up for ourselves."

The series is more likely to be decided under the boards than in the back alleys. San Antonio's monster frontcourt of 7-footers Robinson, Will Perdue and rookie of the year Tim Duncan will be a challenge for top-seeded Utah, but the recent re-emergence of Greg Ostertag bodes well for the Jazz.

Ostertag had seven blocked shots and five second-half rebounds in Utah's 84-70 victory over the Houston Rockets in the deciding Game 5 of their opening-round series on Sunday. The victory allowed Utah to avoid the embarrassment of being just the second No. 1 seed to lose in the first round. (Top-seeded Seattle lost to Denver in 1994).

Ostertag shut down Hakeem Olajuwon in the final two games of the Houston series, but he says the Spurs pose bigger problems.

"They didn't walk all over Phoenix just by chance," Ostertag said. "We have a big team, too, and their size will still be an advantage, but it won't be the advantage it was against Phoenix."

The Spurs advanced to the second round with a four-game sries win against the Suns. That series ended April 29, so it has been nearly a week since San Antonio played. Coach Gregg Popovich isn't sure whether the downtime will help or hurt his team.

"You never know until you get out there," Popovich said. "We just did the best we could at managing the time and staying in shape."

One Utah player who could use some rest is John Stockton, who has been bothered by a sore back. The Jazz won't talk about the injury, but Stockton's 0-for-5 shooting on Sunday did nothing to indicate he's getting better.

While Stockton is hurting, San Antonio's Avery Johnson is playing the best basketball of his career, Sloan said. Johnson has doubled his regular-season average, scoring 20.5 points a game in the playoffs.

"I think they're rolling right now," Hornacek said. "Hopefully we're starting to roll, too."