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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Twenty-three points were more than enough
this time for Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz.
Malone had fewer than half the 50 points he scored in Game 1,
but the Jazz didn't need nearly that many Monday night in a 101-87
victory over the Seattle SuperSonics. Utah took a 2-0 lead in the
best-of-five series.
|  | | Gary Payton scored 20 points, but managed just one assist. John Stockton had 21 points and 11 assists. |
"I'll take everybody getting involved instead of me scoring 50
every night," Malone said.
Game 3 is Saturday at Seattle, which trailed by 17 at halftime
Monday and 27 at the end of three quarters. Only 12 teams have
rallied to win a series after trailing 2-0, and none since the
Houston Rockets in 1995.
"I think the Jazz were vintage tonight. They were outstanding
in every way, and we weren't good in any way," Seattle coach Paul
Westphal said. "It was a great game for them, a bad game for us.
We need to play a lot better."
John Stockton had 21 points and 11 assists for the Jazz, who
shot 56 percent and rested their starters in the fourth quarter.
Bryon Russell added 19 points and substitute Howard Eisley had 15,
including four 3-pointers.
"We had a few things going decent for us," Utah coach Jerry
Sloan said in a vast understatement. "I thought we were alive
defensively, and when you're alive defensively you've got a chance
every night. It's good to see the team with that type of
enthusiasm."
Malone became the fourth player in NBA history with 4,000 points
in the playoffs, joining Michael Jordan (5,987 points), Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar (5,762) and Jerry West (4,457).
He passed the 4,000-point mark on a layup with 4:32 left in the
third quarter on an assist from -- who else? -- Stockton. Malone
finished the game with 4,004 playoff points.
Horace Grant, who had primary responsibility for guarding
Malone, said the Sonics may have spent too much time worrying about
Malone and not enough about the rest of the Jazz.
"Whenever you go out and play defense like that, you're going
to lose ballgames. We didn't have a clue," Grant said. "Our main
goal was to try to limit Karl's touches. But when Bryon Russell got
going and Stockton started hitting 3s, it was tough. You can't let
other guys hurt you the way they did."
Gary Payton had 20 points for the Sonics, but also had seven
turnovers and just one assist. Rashard Lewis added 19 for Seattle,
which never led.
Ahead 57-40 at halftime, the Jazz opened the second half with
four straight baskets -- two by Malone -- to build their margin to 25
points. A no-look backward layup by Jeff Hornacek made it 73-47
with 6:35 left in the third quarter.
The Jazz led 86-59 entering the fourth quarter, and scored seven
straight points, including a long 3-pointer by Eisley as the
24-second clock expired, to take a 93-59 lead.
The Jazz went 6-for-11 on 3-pointers in the first half, with
Russell, Stockton and Eisley hitting two each, and Utah took a
17-point halftime lead. The Sonics were just 2-of-6 on 3-pointers
in the half.
Stockton, who hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the half
to give Utah its margin, and Russell each had 13 points in the
first half. Payton had 13 for Seattle, but he had five turnovers
and no assists in the half.
Utah opened the game with a 10-2 run that included consecutive
3-pointers by Russell, but Seattle responded with eight straight
points to tie it. The Sonics tied the game again at 12, but trailed
the rest of the game.
Game notes
Seattle's Emanual Davis sat out his second straight game
with an injured facial nerve. He missed the last 16 games of the
regular season with the same problem. ... Adam Keefe missed his
second straight game for Utah with a strained right hamstring. ...
Hornacek had six points to push his career playoff total to 1,996.
He could become the 31st player to reach the 2,000-point mark,
though Kevin Johnson of the Phoenix Suns could beat him there.
Johnson has 1,999 points. ... Payton, who played all 48 minutes in
Game 1, played every minute of the first three quarters Monday, but sat out the final quarter.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Seattle Clubhouse
Utah Clubhouse
RECAPS
Charlotte 108
Philadelphia 98
Utah 101
Seattle 87
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