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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
ATLANTA (AP) – Aside from each team's victory total, Karl Malone
can see the biggest difference in the Utah Jazz and the Atlanta
Hawks.
|  | | Karl Malone drives on the Hawks' Brevin Knight, left, and Lorenzen Wright -- and collects the foul. |
"Down the stretch, we know what we're going to do, but the
other team doesn't," he said. "We guys have played so many years
together that we like our chances down the stretch."
Malone scored 30 points and John Stockton added 22 as the Jazz
beat Atlanta 109-102 Monday night for their sixth straight win over
the Hawks.
After Toni Kukoc made a 3-pointer to cut the Jazz's lead to
three points with 2:05 remaining, Malone fed Donyell Marshall for a
dunk 20 seconds later and then hit a 20-foot jumper from the left
wing that made it 107-100 with 1:12 to go.
Utah got 14 points from John Starks and 10 from reserve forward
Danny Manning.
"It's not just the Karl Malone and John Stockton show down the
stretch," Malone said. "From one through 12, this is the best
team I've played on."
Utah, which has won four of five and 14 of 17, led by as many as
nine points, the first time coming on Starks' jumper from the top
of the key early in the third quarter.
The Hawks fought back and went up 78-76 on a pair of free throws
by Jason Terry with 3:39 left in the third.
"We couldn't deal with their pick-and-roll any way we tried,"
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "That's what happens when you play
against a team and don't have yourself mentally prepared. The last
three or four teams we've played have killed us with the
pick-and-roll. It's not like we haven't seen it for 17 years.
Fortunately we were able to come away with a win. That's the main
thing."
Kukoc, starting his first game for Atlanta, led the Hawks with
24 points. Terry finished with 21 points and Lorenzen Wright added
18.
"Utah is one of those teams -- they know what they're doing
coming down the court every time," Kukoc said. "At one point, I
guess we're going to learn."
Atlanta has lost eight straight and 15 of 17. The Hawks dropped
their sixth consecutive home game.
"We're through settling for moral victories," Wright said.
"We're looking for a 'W.' If we put two halves together, I think we
could beat that team."
Terry hit a pair of free throws with 53.8 seconds remaining to
make it 107-102, but Malone fed Stockton for an uncontested layup
in Utah's halfcourt offense to end the scoring with 25.1 seconds to
go.
Stockton was unhappy to sense some of his teammates seeming to
take the Hawks for granted, even as late as the fourth quarter.
"I thought we were still playing hard," Stockton said. "It
might have been a little bit of an attitude thing. Sometimes if you
get a few stops here and there, you can start inching away. If you
can create a mismatch, you do it."
Game notes
Unless they meet the 76ers in the NBA Finals, the Jazz
won't face former Hawks center Dikembe Mutombo this season. Utah played
Philadelphia twice before the 76ers traded for Mutombo. The Jazz
faced Atlanta twice after the Feb. 22 deal. ... Malone is now six
games from passing Paul Silas for eighth place on the career games-played list.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Utah Clubhouse
Atlanta Clubhouse
RECAPS
Utah 109
Atlanta 102
Miami 87
Detroit 84
Milwaukee 107
New Jersey 100
Orlando 95
Dallas 81
San Antonio 91
Vancouver 77
LA Clippers 99
Denver 86
AUDIO/VIDEO
 With time running down, the Jazz push it up the court and David Benoit nets the 3-pointer.
avi: 566 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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