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 GAME FLOW
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- John Stockton dazzled offensively, and the defense of Olden Polynice and Greg Ostertag helped the Utah Jazz beat the San Antonio Spurs at their own game.
Stockton scored 20 points and led the Jazz down the stretch as
Utah beat San Antonio 91-85 on Monday night, handing the defending
NBA champions their second loss in eight games.
When the Spurs cut their deficit to 84-81 after holding Utah
scoreless for almost three minutes, Stockton drove the left side of
the lane, slicing past three defenders for a layup with 1:33 to
play.
"They were giving him shots and he stepped up and made them,"
said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "That was the biggest thing. They
were making John take shots so we wouldn't be able to get anything
inside."
Tim Duncan scored 32 points for San Antonio but, with the Spurs
trailing 89-85, had his last shot blocked by Ostertag in the
closing seconds.
"I thought they were going to look for a 3," Ostertag said.
"If they wanted to go to Duncan in the lane, I wanted to get a
body there. If he's going to the rack, I'm going to make him take a
tough shot."
Utah matched the Spurs push for push, winning a physical
showdown three nights after the Jazz were listless in a 105-92 loss
at Sacramento.
"Different styles of game, I guess," said Utah guard Jeff
Hornacek, who scored 10 points. "We were a little too tentative
against teams like Sacramento, who seem to run and gun it."
The Jazz also outrebounded the Spurs 46-31, with Ostertag and
Karl Malone each grabbing 11 boards. Malone scored 20 points, Bryon
Russell had 19 off the bench and reserve point guard Howard Eisley
added 13.
"The Jazz played a great game from beginning to end," said
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. "They wanted it badly and it showed.
They used a lot of energy and went to the boards hard. They were
very aggressive."
Duncan hit a one-handed jumper in the lane to pull the Spurs
within 86-83 with 50.6 seconds left.
But Stockton found Malone on the pick-and-roll that the
perennial NBA All-Stars have perfected over their long careers
together, and Malone swished a 20-footer to give Utah an 88-83
lead.
"We made some defensive errors in the last two or three minutes
that we don't normally make," Popovich said.
Duncan banked a basket from eight feet but Stockton hit one of
two foul shots as the Jazz outlasted the Spurs. San Antonio went to
Duncan one last time, but Ostertag stuffed Duncan's running
left-hander.
"We did a great job on David Robinson, Mario Elie and Jaren
Jackson," Polynice said. "That was the key. We kept the guys at
bay that we needed to. All except Tim Duncan, but he shoots enough
to score 32 points every night."
The Spurs had held their first seven opponents to an NBA-low 37
percent shooting from the field and they led 32-25 after the Jazz
shot 34 percent (9-of-26) in the first quarter.
With Malone and Polynice taking turns blanketing Duncan, the
Jazz climbed back to tie it 44-44 on a shot by Russell with 2:39
left in the first half. The Spurs led 51-50 at halftime.
Robinson scored 11 points in the first half but the Jazz held
him to a free throw late in the game after that. Also, Utah slowly
found a shooting touch, hitting 45 percent (34-of-74) for the game.
"Normally, we're a very good team down the stretch," Robinson
said. "A lot of it was the rebounds. We gave them a lot of looks
and they were able to turn many of their offensive rebounds into
3-pointers."
Robinson grabbed 10 rebounds while Duncan had eight. Terry
Porter scored 12 points for the Spurs.
Game notes
Russell made 7-of-9 from the field, including 3-of-3 on
3-pointers. ... The teams combined for eight 3-second violations,
four each. "There were more than usual but if they're not all on
one team, you can't complain," Popovich said. ... Eisley shot
3-of-4 on 3-pointers and led the Jazz with six assists. He's four
assists short of 1,000 in his career. ... Utah and San Antonio tied
for the best record in the lockout-shortened season last year at
37-13. ... It was the first of four regular-season meetings between
the Jazz and Spurs.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
San Antonio Clubhouse
Utah Clubhouse
RECAPS
Seattle 100
New Jersey 92
Indiana 96
Houston 87
LA Lakers 91
Phoenix 82
Utah 91
San Antonio 85
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