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No blowout but still a loss for Jazz
Utah faces elimination after offense sputters late
Posted: Thursday June 11, 1998 01:58 AM
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Stockton (12) was held to seven points, but managed to dish out 13 assists to his teammates (AP) |
CHICAGO (AP) -- Karl Malone and
John
Stockton, cornerstones of the Utah franchise for the last dozen years,
were missing in action down the stretch again and the Jazz fell short
against Chicago again Wednesday night.
At least this time, they made it close.
After suffering the biggest blowout in NBA Finals history in Game 3, the
Jazz kept this one close but fell short in the final minute, losing 86-82.
Now Utah faces a nearly impossible task, trailing the world champion
Bulls 3-1 in the best-of-7 series with Game 5 set for Friday night. No team
has ever recovered from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA championship. And the
Jazz seem doomed unless they get more production from Malone and Stockton,
who were selected by the league as two of the top 50 players in NBA
history.
Malone had 21 points but was held scoreless in the second quarter and
managed just three shots and one basket in the fourth when the Jazz twice
battled back from a seven-point deficit to briefly take the lead.
Stockton had 13 assists but struggled on offense for the third straight
game, shooting just 3-for-11 and scoring only seven points. In the crucial
final minutes, he was uncharacterically erratic, missing two layups and two
3-pointers and turning the ball over twice.
With their main options limited, the Jazz simply ran out of steam. Utah's
attack has been erratic since the end of the second game and the Jazz went
seven straight periods without scoring 20 points until they reached that
number in the third quarter of Game 4.
But with their main men closed off by the stifling defense of Dennis Rodman
on Malone and Scottie Pippen
on Stockton, the Jazz just fell short.
After Chris
Morris missed a wide-open 3-pointer that would have tied the game, it
seemed Utah was done. But Jeff Hornacek,
quiet most of the game, drew the Jazz within a point with one minute to
play.
Utah simply could not complete the comeback, especially with Malone held
to just one basket and three rebounds in the final 12 minutes.
"You stay with the offense," Malone said. "I think when you feel like
you're not getting a lot of shots then the next thing you want to do is
start shooting out of the offense. I still stay with my offense. I stayed
with it all year long and believed in what we've been doing as an offensive
team and will continue to do that. I'm not going to get caught up in how
many shots I take or don't take in the fourth quarter. It's one of those
things."
Malone said the Jazz were running out of chances.
"We need a win," he said. "We need to play better than we did in the last
two games. Tonight we had opportunities and we didn't take advantage and
they did. You don't go into this thing thinking you'll be down 3-1."
Stockton tried to sound an optimistic note.
"It's not a good position to be in," he said. "We've got one game to
play. Win that and it's a different situation. We go home for two. One win
can change the whole complexion and get you back."
Coach Jerry Sloan thought the Jazz lost their focus at the end.
"I don't think we shot a lot of free throws," he said. "We didn't take
them inside. We got in too big a hurry and looked for long shots a little
too soon."
Sloan was right. The Jazz got to the foul line just three times in the
final 12 minutes while the Bulls made 17 of 24 attempts, including 5-of-6
by Rodman, who also had 14 rebounds and hounded Malone on defense.
"I'm not upset," Sloan said. "The game's over. I still have both arms and
both legs so I'm going to try again on Friday."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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