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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
NEW YORK (AP) -- Karl Malone reached into his bag of tricks and
pulled out a few rarities: A sky hook, a la Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a
3-foot finger roll, a la George Gervin, and a dagger as the
24-second clock expired, a la Michael Jordan.
"I've got those kinds of things," Malone said after leading
the Utah Jazz past the New York Knicks 88-79 Sunday. "My teammates
are always telling me: When are you going to do this and when are
you going to do that? But (my normal stuff) is working for all
these years, so why should I change it?
|  | | Jazz forward Bryon Russell slams for two of his 19 points against the Knicks. |
"I'm not going to do (other things) until guys stop me from
doing what I've been doing all these years," Malone said. "I just
did that today for the guys."
Malone scored 30 points and Bryon Russell added 19 as Utah's
forwards dominated New York's, outscoring Kurt Thomas and Larry
Johnson 49-8.
It was the fourth straight victory and the 11th in 13 games for
the Jazz, who led for almost the entire game in becoming just the
second Western Conference team to win at Madison Square Garden this
season.
Jeff Hornacek added 13 points and John Stockton had 12 assists
for the Jazz, who went undefeated on a three-game road trip to
Detroit, Charlotte and New York.
"We've got a lot of road games left, and if we want to make
some noise we've got to do it on the road in hostile territory,"
Malone said.
The Jazz gave an almost textbook example of how to play from
ahead, rarely letting the Knicks gather any momentum after taking
their first 10-point lead late in the first quarter.
The one time New York did make a move, going on a 13-3 run to
close within three early in the fourth quarter, the Jazz quickly
countered with an 8-0 run to reassert control. Hornacek had two
corner jumpers and Malone had a 21-footer in the run, which put
Utah ahead 70-59 with 8:05 left.
Malone, whose sky hook gave Utah a 13-point lead midway through
the third quarter, added a finger-roll layup on the fast break with
3:21 left to make it 81-68.
The Knicks pulled to 83-77 on a 3-pointer by Johnson with 1:28
remaining, but Hornacek made a free throw and Malone scored on a
driving layup as the 24-second clock was expiring with one minute
left for an 86-77 lead.
"They made a run, but we stayed with what we wanted to do,"
Malone said. "When they got close, we knew their guards would try
to take over the ballgame. But we did a good job defensively and
held them to one shot each trip downcourt."
Latrell Sprewell scored 22, Allan Houston added 20 and Patrick
Ewing 18 for the offensively frustrated Knicks, who have failed to
reach 80 points in three of their last four games.
New York shot just 39 percent, committed 14 turnovers and was
outrebounded 46-31.
"Right now we are in a funk," coach Jeff Van Gundy said, "and
we're going to have to find a way out of it. We made a nice hard
run in the second half, but against quality teams playing from
behind just doesn't work. This is something we've seen at home the
last few games, and tonight it caught up to us."
Game notes
The Denver Nuggets were the last Western Conference team to
win in New York, beating the Knicks 102-95 on Nov. 16. ... Marcus
Camby, sidelined four weeks with a strained knee ligament, has experienced swelling in the knee since he returned to practice last week. Addressing Camby's claim that his injury had been misdiagnosed from the start, Knicks team doctor Norman Scott said Camby's anger and frustration was a byproduct of his eagerness to return. "There was no misdiagnosis here," Dr. Scott said. ... Malone moved within 1,000 points of Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points) on the career scoring list. ... Jazz center Olden Polynice
went 0-for-2 at the line, making him 13-for-45 (29 percent) on the season. ... The Jazz have beaten the Knicks in the teams' past five meetings.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Utah Clubhouse
New York Clubhouse
RECAPS
Utah 88
New York 79
Boston 97
Orlando 91
Toronto 94
Vancouver 92
LA Lakers 93
Miami 80
Charlotte 100
Chicago 94
Minnesota 105
Seattle 100
Cleveland 100
Denver 92
Indiana 114
Golden State 95
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