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Sunday, Apr. 16 9:00pm ET
Malone powers Jazz to Midwest crown | |||||
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PHOENIX (AP) -- Of the five Midwest Division championships he has won with the Utah Jazz, Karl Malone says this one means the most. Malone, riled by a no-call in the third quarter, had 32 points and 15 rebounds Sunday night as the Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns 96-82 to clinch the division title one night after they were embarrassed by 23 points at San Antonio. "I'm not going to lie to you. Fifteen years in this league, 36 years old and to win a Midwest Division when they're trying to usher out all the old and in with the new, it means a lot," Malone said. "More so this year than any other time, because the other times we were expected to do it." Malone became the third player to surpass 31,000 points. The others are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. Malone said it should impress people that the Jazz clinched the title on the road against the Suns, whose 32-8 record at home is third-best in the NBA. "To go out on the road, play a team like Phoenix that has something to play for, and win a ball game like this is big for us," Malone said. "I'm excited for everybody in this locker room." The Jazz weren't about to go through the motions and then head home to clinch before a friendly crowd. "The way we got waxed last night, it would have been a real easy thing to come in and say 'OK, we'll just play the game and go home,' but they came to try to win," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said. "They've done that since I've been here." Utah swept the season series from the Suns for the first time. The division crown was its fourth in five years and sixth in franchise history. With the loss, the Suns' lead over San Antonio slipped to one game with two to play in the race for the No. 4 spot in the Western Conference and homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. "Clearly we got beat by a much better basketball team," Phoenix coach Scott Skiles said. "We'd like to think that we're in that caliber, but they swept us this year and the last two times they've handled us very easily." Although the Suns had won four in a row, Skiles had been unhappy with his team's performance. "Hopefully, this will be some sort of wake-up call that we need to improve and we need to do it quickly," Skiles said. Malone scored 21 in the second half as Utah pulled away from a 40-40 halftime tie. Jeff Hornacek, honored by the Suns before the game, scored 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. Bryon Russell scored 16 for Utah. Penny Hardaway scored 16 for Phoenix but was only 6-for-14 from the field. Shawn Marion scored 15, but only two in the second half. Todd Day added 14 points. The Jazz, who had lost three of four and were blown out 106-83 at San Antonio on Saturday night, outscored the Suns 28-14 in the third quarter to take a 68-54 lead into the final quarter. Day's 3-pointer cut the lead to 74-64 with 9:19 to play, but Malone made 12-footer and Hornacek an 18-footer and Phoenix never threatened again. Utah was leading 52-46 when Malone was flattened by the Suns' Oliver Miller and no foul was called. Malone drew a technical foul for protesting, Cliff Robinson missed the free throw, and the Jazz went on a 14-0 run to open a 63-48 lead. "It was the most blatant no-call that I've ever seen in my life and I get a technical for it," Malone said. "But we got focused in and made a run. We didn't dwell on the technical. It probably would have been easy for me to get another one." Malone scored five and Howard Eisley sank a 3-pointer during the run. The Jazz outrebounded Phoenix 49-31 and were 20-for-29 from the free-throw line, compared with the Suns' 11-for-19. Phoenix led nearly all of a close first half that ended in a 40-40 tie. Utah's only lead of the half was 39-38 on John Stockton's 15-footer with 57 seconds to go. Miller's rebound basket but Phoenix ahead 40-39 with 8.7 seconds remaining, then Stockton tied it by making one of two free throws with 4.6 seconds to play. Game notesNotes: Hornacek, who is retiring at the end of the season, was presented a set of golf clubs by Suns owner Jerry Colangelo before the game. Hornacek played his first six seasons in Phoenix. ... After going 1-for-7 in the first three quarters, Hornacek was 5-for-5 in the fourth. ... The Suns' Kevin Johnson, who missed the previous two games after aggravating a strained groin, played only eight minutes in the first half before he left the game for good with the same injury. ... Marion had four baseline slam dunks on lob passes in the first half, two of them from Hardaway. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Utah Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse RECAPS Miami 95 Orlando 84
Utah 96
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