RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
DALLAS (AP) -- The Utah Jazz have been together a lot longer than
the youthful Dallas Mavericks. That experience showed down the
stretch Saturday night.
|  | | Karl Malone scored 35 points against Dallas Saturday night. |
Karl Malone scored 35 points, including 15 in the fourth
quarter, as the Utah Jazz held off a Dallas rally to win, 112-106.
"Karl Malone comes to play every day," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan
said. "It's a pleasure just to have the opportunity to coach a guy
like this."
The Jazz did get into some trouble early in the fourth quarter,
missing two jump shots, two layups and getting called for an
illegal defense.
"When you lose your concentration you don't do what you're
supposed to do," Sloan said. "It's as simple as that. We got in a
hurry out there and that's when we started to make mistakes."
The Jazz recovered, however, and have now won their last six
games at Reunion Arena.
The Mavericks, who were off to a 2-0 start for the first time
since the 1997-98 season, shaved away several Jazz advantages in
the second half. Dirk Nowitzki, whose 3-for-4 3-point shooting in
the third quarter helped the Mavericks erase a 10-point Jazz lead,
finished with 20 points.
Dallas took advantage of some of the Jazz's early fourth-quarter
miscues and opened a 93-89 lead on Howard Eisley's 3-pointer midway
through the fourth quarter.
The Jazz, who remained undefeated (3-0), got a boost from one of
their other trademarks -- strong free-throw shooting. Utah hit 34 of
47 free throws (72.3 percent) in the game, including 15 of 17 in
the fourth quarter.
"We came in knowing we needed to play hard to get the win,"
said Jazz guard John Stockton, who finished with 14 points and nine
assists. "We made some mistakes out there and we're going to have
to work on that part of our game. But the important thing was to
win the ballgame."
Malone added 10 rebounds for the double-double. Utah also
benefitted from a 10-0 run down the stretch.
"They do that on you, can't they?" Mavericks coach Don Nelson
said. "We had a great effort from everybody, I sure can't complain
about anything. The free throws really hurt down the end. They shot
a free throw on every possession. You're going to get into a lot of
trouble."
Steve Nash had a career-high 12 assists and also led the
Mavericks with 24 points. Michael Finley also had 20 points.
"I wish I could figure out how we let that one get away from
us," said Mavericks center Shawn Bradley, who had seven points and
a team-leading 14 rebounds. "It's not like we were playing bad
defense. They just stepped up like they've been doing. Right now,
they're playing as good as I've ever seen."
Dallas also missed the defensive presence of guard Greg Buckner,
who is out with a sprained right foot.
John Starks added 14 points for the Jazz, while Bryon Russell
finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
"Fortunately, we were able to get the lead back," Sloan said.
"It took us a while to get guys where they were supposed to be.
Everybody has got to get used to playing with each other."
Game
notes
Malone needs just five more games played for 1,200 for his
career. ... Utah's Danny Manning is still one block away from 700
for his career. ... It was the third time in his career that Nash
registered 12 assists. He also did it against Golden State on Feb.
7, 1999 (his 25th birthday) and on Nov. 14, 1996 against Vancouver
in his only start that season.
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NBA Scoreboard
Utah Clubhouse
Dallas Clubhouse
RECAPS
LA Lakers 98
Vancouver 89
Indiana 94
Chicago 81
Toronto 103
Washington 96
Orlando 107
Atlanta 104
Cleveland 91
Boston 89
Philadelphia 84
Miami 82
Utah 112
Dallas 106
Minnesota 99
Sacramento 91
Charlotte 98
New Jersey 87
Milwaukee 97
Detroit 88
Phoenix 102
Denver 99
Portland 97
Seattle 90
San Antonio 117
Golden State 105
LA Clippers 77
Houston 74
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