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Last dance? Jazz fall in possible Utah finale for Stockton, MalonePosted: Tuesday April 29, 2003 1:24 AMUpdated: Tuesday April 29, 2003 2:50 AM
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- If it was goodbye for Utah's John Stockton and Karl Malone, the Sacramento Kings made sure it wasn't a happy one. Peja Stojakovic scored 15 of his 27 points in the third quarter and Chris Webber had 26 points and 11 rebounds as the Kings turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 99-82 win over the Jazz on Monday night. Sacramento leads the series 3-1 and can clinch it at home Wednesday night in Game 5. The Kings could be last team to beat Stockton and Malone in Salt Lake City if the 41-year-old Stockton retires and Malone leaves as a free agent. Both Stockton and Malone will decide their futures when the season ends, which will be soon if the Jazz can't pull an upset in Sacramento.
Malone led the Jazz with 24 points and Stockton had 12 points and seven assists. Neither wanted to talk much about the future after the game. "You can say that any time you go out on the floor: 'That could be the last one."' Stockton said. "You've got to play it like it's your last one. As for the rest, I guess we'll all decide that at the end, but we're sure not putting any thought into it until then." Stockton left the game quietly during a timeout. Malone got a standing ovation from what was left of the sellout crowd of 19,911 when he was pulled with 2:25 left. "We've played a long time together," Malone said. "Hopefully the fans have appreciated what we've tried to do for this organization and for them." Two days after a gritty win got them back into the series, the older and slower Jazz couldn't keep up with the Kings in the second half. The Jazz are on the verge of getting knocked out of the playoffs by the Kings for the second straight year. "They have beat us this year and we can't relax. You have to play the same kind of game in Sacramento that we played in the second half tonight," Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. "You have to win four games and then it's over." Sacramento was just 17-for-50 from the field in the first half and trailed 41-37 despite causing 14 turnovers. But the Kings started hitting shots from everywhere in the third quarter and quickly turned the game into a runaway. "They were giving us the ball and we didn't score off it, so in the third quarter we tried to pick it up a bit," said Sacramento's Mike Bibby, who scored nine of his 11 points in the second half. "Thirty-seven points at halftime. That's not us." Stojakovic hit his second straight 3-pointer to tie the game at 47, then put back his own offensive rebound to give the Kings their first lead since late in the first quarter. The Jazz struggled with just three field goals in the first 7 1/2 minutes of the third quarter as the Kings began to pull away. The Jazz got to 59-57 on two free throws by Malone with 3:10 left in the third period, then the Kings went on a 14-2 run to close the quarter. Sacramento was 15-for-25 from the floor in the period, getting a few easy layups off fast breaks and three 3-pointers from Stojakovic. The Kings didn't allow the Jazz to get closer than nine the rest of the way. Jim Jackson scored 10 for the Kings. Matt Harpring scored 18 points and Andrei Kirilenko finished with 15 for the Jazz. Greg Ostertag had 14 rebounds for Utah, which has been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round the last two seasons.
Notes: There were five technical fouls in the game, including
Utah coach Jerry Sloan's third in two games. ... Masters champion
Mike Weir, who lives in suburban Salt Lake City, got a standing
ovation during a timeout and was given a ball by Jazz owner Larry
Miller. ... Sloan finished third in voting for NBA coach of the
year Monday behind winner Gregg Popovich of San Antonio and Eric
Musselman of Golden State. Sacramento's Rick Adelman was fifth. ...
Vlade Divac shaved his trademark beard for the first time in the
playoffs.
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