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  Friday, Dec. 3 8:00pm ET
Miller jolts Jazz with 31 points
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- If the Utah Jazz expected the Indiana Pacers to be tired on the final night of their Western road swing, they were wrong.

Karl Malone
Karl Malone managed 16 points against the tough Pacers defense, but it was far from enough.

Reggie Miller scored 31 points and Jalen Rose had 17 as the Pacers beat the uninspired Jazz 100-75 on Friday night, giving Indiana three victories on its four-game road trip.

Instead of the Pacers shuffling up and down the court, it was Utah that seemed to need of a break. The Jazz suffered their worst defeat since a 105-78 loss to Houston on Feb. 23, 1993.

"You'll learn nothing from this game except that we got our butts waxed at home," said Jazz forward Karl Malone.

Miller heated up in his last two games for the Pacers, who beat Portland and Vancouver after losing to Seattle during their six-day trek.

"Tonight was fun to watch because they moved the ball," said Indiana coach Larry Bird. "They were very unselfish. On the defensive end, we were trying to help each other and stop penetration. We are playing a lot better."

After failing to reach 20 points for a seven-game span, Miller had 26 in Wednesday's win at Vancouver.

"We're street-balling out there and that helps," Miller said.

The 6-foot-7 Miller took advantage of his matchup against 6-4 Jeff Hornacek.

"I was getting the ball in good position," Miller said. "I felt I could work Jeff a little bit off screens and I used my height advantage low in the post to create shots for myself."

Mark Jackson and Al Harrington each added 12 points against Utah. Jackson added nine assists.

Malone had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Hornacek scored 10.

Utah came out flat and never found a rhythm, while Miller hit 7 of 13 and scored 19 points in the first half. Indiana capitalized on Utah's streaky defense and 39 percent shooting (16-of-41) to build a 55-40 halftime lead.

It might as well have been over right there, but Utah briefly made things interesting with a small run in the third quarter.

The Pacers led 67-46 when Jackson was called for a turnover and then got a technical foul when he slammed the ball to the floor with 6:26 left in the third quarter.

For good measure, Jackson kicked over a courtside fan's popcorn bag. Hornacek made the free throw and added a jumper to ignite a 9-3 burst that briefly got Jazz fans involved.

But as quickly as Utah's energy level climbed, it dropped just as fast.

With Indiana leading 70-55, Jackson completed a three-point play and Miller scored the Pacers' next seven points to stretch the lead to 80-59 entering the fourth quarter.

The only time Utah was in the game was after the first quarter, trailing 27-23. The Pacers built early leads of 18-8 and 24-14 but the Jazz rallied to trim the deficit going into the second period.

Miller took over, scoring eight points in the second quarter as Indiana shot 12-of-22 (54 percent). Harrington added six in the period.

"They beat us with plain old simple basketball," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan. "They posted us up. They got offensive rebounds. They drove to the basket. Anything they wanted to do, they just took advantage of us."

Game notes
Jazz center Greg Ostertag left at halftime because of a family emergency. His infant daughter had surgery Friday morning but team officials had no other details. ... Stockton needs eight points to reach 16,000 for his career while Hornacek's 10 points put him right at 15,000. ... Miller made 10-of-10 from the foul line against Vancouver and hit 6-of-7 against the Jazz. ... Besides the worst loss in seven years, it was Utah's third-worst defeat at the Delta Center.
 


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