| |
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
 GAME FLOW
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Welcome to Utah, Armen Gilliam.
The newly acquired forward showed why Utah wanted him, scoring
nine of his 10 points in the fourth quarter and grabbing eight
rebounds as the Jazz beat the Miami Heat 93-83 on Thursday night.
|  | | Miami's P.J. Brown applies a little unconventional defense on Greg Ostertag. |
"I felt like I was out of sync with the offense and I was in
the way sometimes," said Gilliam, added when the Jazz waived Pete
Chilcutt. "But the guys were patient with me and coach was patient
and left me out there."
Gilliam was patient, too, just to end up in Utah. He began the
season on the injured list in Orlando. After he was waived in
November, he waited seven weeks before the Jazz called.
"I wanted to be on a team that had a good group of guys that
had been there before," Gilliam said. "This was a perfect fit for
me. I turned down a lot of bad teams, but this was the right fit."
Bryon Russell scored 19 points, Karl Malone scored 18 points,
Jeff Hornacek had 17 and Olden Polynice and Howard Eisley each had
11.
John Stockton had 13 assists with one turnover and survived a jab to his left eye. He caught Anthony Carter's outstretched finger while driving the lane in the third quarter.
After sitting six minutes, Stockton returned to start the
fourth.
"It wasn't so much pain as I just couldn't see at the time," Stockton said. "I got a little scratch. It watered up and the other side wouldn't open. I just put some medication on it and went back."
Alonzo Mourning led the Heat with 27 points, Voshon Lenard added
25 and Jamal Mashburn had 11, but Miami went flat at the end,
scoring only five points in the last six minutes.
"We didn't make the right decisions," Mashburn said. "They
came up with big rebounds, but the biggest factor was Stockton
being all over the place. Gilliam was also a factor with his hook
shots in the post."
Gilliam added another dimension to the Utah offense, hitting
back-to-back baskets over Mourning early in the fourth quarter to
help the Jazz extend a 74-65 lead after three periods.
"He's had a lot of stuff thrown at him in a short period of
time," said Utah coach Jerry Sloan. "I think he's done a real
good job. It just takes time to figure out who he is as far as our
team is concerned."
The next time Gilliam shot, Mourning swatted the ball several
rows into the stands, and it sparked the Heat to a 7-0 run. Two
free throws by Mashburn pulled Miami within 78-74 with 8:10
remaining.
Gilliam hit a free throw and Malone added an 18-foot jumper, but
the Heat rallied with driving baskets by Lenard and Mashburn,
pulling within 81-78 with six minutes to play.
But Gilliam, who played 23 minutes, added a 16-foot jumper and
Eisley made a huge defensive stop, stuffing a 3-point attempt by
Miami's Dan Majerle with 4:42 on the clock.
It didn't help the Heat when Mashburn fouled out 11 seconds
later. The Jazz scored the next six points and never looked back.
Hornacek, Eisley and rookie Quincy Lewis combined to limit Majerle to six points just two nights after he scored 33 on 9-of-10
shooting from 3-point range in a victory at Minnesota.
"Just your average scouting report on Majerle," Lewis said.
"Nothing fancy. We knew we couldn't let him get going."
As for Stockton, the injury wasn't as serious as it initially
seemed.
He was diagnosed with a scrape. After holding an icepack to his
face while sitting the last six minutes of the third quarter,
Stockton was cheered when he returned to start the fourth.
On the play he was hurt, Stockton lost the ball and fell to the
baseline, where he stayed while the Heat ran its offense at the
other end.
P.J. Brown hit a jumper to tie it at 57 with 5:56 to play, ending live action and allowing Utah trainer Mike Shimensky to race
onto the floor. Stockton winced as he walked to the bench, and fans
booed when the replay was shown.
Game notes
Sloan needs one victory to reach 700 for his career. With
887 games coaching the Jazz, he ranks fourth in NBA history for
most games leading the same team. ... Mourning's streak of 60 games
with at least one blocked shot ended Tuesday at Minnesota, but he
had three blocks by halftime against the Jazz. ... The Heat beat
Utah 74-72 last month at home. Miami has never swept the season
series.
| |
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Miami Clubhouse
Utah Clubhouse
RECAPS
New Jersey 110
LA Clippers 105
Minnesota 103
Boston 85
Utah 93
Miami 83
Houston 108
Golden State 100
Sacramento 107
San Antonio 103
|
