Suns Send Jazz To Another 'L'

Building big leads hasn't been all that difficult for the Phoenix Suns this season. Holding them has been another matter.

One night after blowing an 18-point lead in a loss to Dallas, the Suns squandered a 21-point lead against the Utah Jazz before staging a late rally to earn a 91-82 win Wednesday night.

It came at a good time for the Suns as they pulled into a tie for the sixth playoff spot in the Western Conference with Minnesota, which lost at Seattle.

The one constant for the Suns has been Jason Kidd, who flirted with his sixth triple-double of the season, notching 21 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.

Danny Manning added 16 points and Cliff Robinson, Tom Gugliotta and Rex Chapman had 13 each for the Suns.

Karl Malone had 28 points and 13 rebounds for league-leading Utah, which suffered its second straight loss, matching its longest losing streak of the season. Jeff Hornacek added 13 points and John Stockton 12.

"We had a couple turnovers down at the end and didn't execute," Malone said. "We took the lead and had the ball but they responded, so give them credit for that.

"I kind of dictate things and it seemed like I took some quick shots and the whole offense took some quick shots and they were able to get out and run."

Utah shot 39 percent for the game, and just 34 percent in the first half, while the Suns hit 51 percent despite shooting just 3-of-15 in the third quarter when Utah got back in the game.

The Jazz trailed 35-14 early in the second quarter before battling back to take a 65-64 lead at the end of the third quarter on Howard Eisley's two free throws.

Leading 74-72 in the fourth quarter, the Suns went on an 8-0 run to take control of the game at 82-73 with 3:43 to play.

"I think we probably had a lapse, but I thinwe knew Utah wasn't out of the game," Kidd said. "We knew they were going to make a run at us and they did.

"But we showed some character not to fold our tent when they got the lead and get frustrated and take some bad shots. We stayed with our offense and made some shots and got back on top."

With the Jazz trailing 51-38 at halftime, Malone went to work in the third quarter, scoring 14 points as Utah pulled ahead 65-64. Malone, who made just one of his first seven shots, hit his next seven and had eight points during a 14-3 Utah run early in the quarter.

Phoenix built its halftime lead behind Kidd's 15 points and nine assists, as the Suns shot 57 percent. The cold-shooting Jazz (34 percent) got 10 points from Malone and Shandon Anderson came off the bench to score eight, helping slice into a lead that was as many as 21 points early in the second quarter.

Rex Chapman and Kidd got the Suns off to a quick start as the Suns sprinted to a 31-14 lead. Each shot 4-of-5 and scored nine points.

After Stockton's basket to open the scoring, the Suns outscored the Jazz 21-4 over the next eight minutes.

Notes: Phoenix center Luc Longley missed his seventh straight game with a hyperextended knee, sustained in a collision with Malone the last time the two teams played on April 9. ... The win ended the Suns' five-game losing streak against the Jazz and it was just their fourth win in the last 16 games between the two teams. ... It also was the Suns' fifth straight home win, which marks their season high and equals last season's high mark.

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