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All that Jazz Utah dumps Milwaukee 103-90 for sixth consecutive winPosted: Saturday March 29, 2003 12:58 AMUpdated: Saturday March 29, 2003 1:59 AM SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Matt Harpring nearly outscored the Milwaukee Bucks by himself in the third quarter. Harpring scored 22 of his 28 points in the period as the Utah Jazz won 103-90 Friday night, tying their longest winning streak of the season at six. "I just caught a rhythm," said Harpring, who fell three points shy of Karl Malone's team record for points for a quarter. "It was one of those quarters where the hoop looked real big." Harpring shot 8-of-9 in the third, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and he equaled Milwaukee's 22 points in the quarter. He twisted his ankle at the end of the period and scored just one point in the final quarter, but he doesn't expect to miss Saturday night's game at San Antonio. Without the injury, Harpring might have topped his career high of 33 points. "A quarter like that happens every now and then," said Harpring, who also led the Jazz with 10 rebounds. "It's too bad I twisted my ankle. I just tweaked it a little bit." Andrei Kirilenko added 19 points and four blocks, and Malone scored 18 points as Utah handed Milwaukee its third straight loss. The Bucks have lost eight of their last 11 and are a game behind Washington for the No. 8 playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. "This is playoff basketball for us right now, and we've got to play much better," said Michael Redd, who led the Bucks with 26 points on 6-of-9 3-point shooting. "We need to have the understanding that we could go home if we don't show up to games." Gary Payton scored 19 points and Desmond Mason had 12 and 11 rebounds for the Bucks. John Stockton had 11 assists and 10 points, and Calbert Cheaney scored 10 points for Utah, which shot 65 percent (22-for-34) in the second half. Greg Ostertag, who had nine points and eight rebounds, was the only Utah starter who didn't score in double figures. The Jazz, who remained in sixth place in the Western Conference playoff race, hadn't won six straight since going on a run in late November to make up for a 1-4 start. To extend the streak, Utah would have to beat the Spurs, who are 2-0 against the Jazz this season. Milwaukee, which wrapped up a three-game road trip, led by two at halftime but couldn't recover from Utah's torrid third quarter, when the Jazz shot 12-of-15 from the field. "We just didn't shoot the ball well enough, and the third quarter just killed us," Bucks head coach George Karl said. "We fought back and did some good things in the fourth, but generally the third quarter and Harpring just killed us." The Jazz closed the third quarter on a 15-5 run, started by Harpring's 3-pointer, to go ahead 65-60. Harpring added another jumper and three free throws, including one when Payton was called for a technical with 1:44 left, as the Jazz pulled away. "He got into a nice rhythm, and it was one of those things you see players do every once in a while," said Utah head coach Jerry Sloan, who celebrated his 61st birthday. "It's nice to see, especially when it is for your team." Harpring also took a shoulder from Toni Kukoc on Milwaukee's final possession of the quarter and drew the offensive foul as the Jazz took a 77-65 lead into the fourth.
Notes: Malone got a technical when he knocked over a cup of hard candy on the scorers' table. Malone was complaining about the foul
and continued to smack anything within reach as he made his way to the bench, spilling a cup of coffee on Jazz broadcasters Ron Boone and Rod Hundley. ... The Bucks had just three turnovers in the first half.
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