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 GAME FLOW
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- John Stockton's staying power with
the Utah Jazz has reached record proportions.
|  | | Detroit's Mikki Moore (31) and Utah's Donyell Marshall battle for a loose ball in the second half Sunday. |
Stockton handed out 15 assists and broke John Havlicek's record
for most games played with one team, as the Jazz beat the Detroit
Pistons 94-79 on Sunday.
"The record means that I have been very fortunate," said
Stockton, who has played 1,271 games with the Jazz. "A lot of
things have to go right to do that. You have to be healthy, and you
have to have a team that wants you and where you want to be."
Utah coach Jerry Sloan, who started with the Jazz as an
assistant coach just a few weeks into Stockton's career, is amazed
at his longevity.
"It's quite an accomplishment in my opinion," Sloan said.
"Few guys his size have been able to hold up that long. He just
loves to play basketball."
Utah outscored Detroit 31-12 in the fourth quarter, helped by 12
points from Karl Malone, and won its third straight game.
"It's amazing when we start helping each other out on defense
what happens on the other end," Malone said. "We started off
really slow, but when you play like that at the end, you are going
to have an opportunity to win."
Bryon Russell
added 17 points for Utah. John Starks had 13.
Jerry Stackhouse, who shot 8-for-15 from the line, led Detroit
with 37 points. Joe Smith had 10 points and two rebounds in 17
minutes in his second game with Detroit.
"A lot of good things happened tonight, but things just ran out
at the end," Stackhouse said. "We'll never be able to win every
game, but if we keep playing this hard, we will win a lot."
Stackhouse scored 25 points in the first half and helped the
Pistons forge a 42-42 tie at the half.
Utah held a 63-61 lead late in the third, but Detroit scored six
unanswered points for a four-point lead after three quarters.
Utah scored the first four points of the fourth period and took
the lead on Jacque Vaughn's 3-pointer. A 3-pointer by Russell gave
the Jazz a 79-72 lead with 6:08 remaining.
"Bryon's one of the guys we count on every night," Stockton
said. "He's a young old veteran for us, and we need him to
continually step up like he did tonight."
Detroit missed 10 of its first 11 shots in the fourth and
committed eight turnovers in the first nine minutes of the period
as Utah built an 11-point lead.
"That's a very good basketball team and they really stepped up
the defense at the end," Pistons coach George Irvine said. "We
got into a habit of making one pass and shooting, and you can't do
that against a team like the Jazz. You can't just give them extra
possessions."
Detroit point guard Chucky Atkins sprained his left ankle in the
first half, but returned to the game 11 minutes after the
intermission. Atkins did not require X-rays, but his status for
Wednesday's game against New Jersey was not known.
Game notes
The Pistons honored Stockton's achievement in a brief
pregame ceremony. ... Stackhouse has scored 20-plus points in a
half six times this season, including in the first half of
Detroit's last three games. ... Stockton's only point came on a
technical-foul free throw.
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RECAPS
Vancouver 98
Boston 87
Toronto 101
Chicago 89
Utah 94
Detroit 79
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