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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Late in the fourth quarter against Utah
Thursday night, 6-foot-7 Scottie Pippen looked down at 6-foot-1
John Stockton and yelled to Portland coach Mike Dunleavy, "You
gotta get me the ball."
|  | | Damon Stoudamire, center, celebrates the victory with Dale Davis, right, who hit the game-winning free throws. |
The Blazers did feed the ball to Pippen in the post and he
delivered eight straight points in the final 2:12 to lead Portland
to a 101-99 victory over the Jazz.
"I took advantage of Stockton in the post a little bit. I was
able to use my size," said Pippen, who scored 25 points.
Pippen rallied the Blazers but he needed help to seal the win.
With the score tied at 99, Pippen lost the ball as he dribbled
across the lane, but Dale Davis picked it up and was fouled by
Bryon Russell with 1.9 to play. Davis, a 63 percent foul shooter,
made both.
"I had the opportunity to score at the end there but those two
free throws were huge," Pippen said.
Bonzi Wells scored 22 and Rasheed Wallace added 21. Portland,
which shot 59 percent, has won three of its last four games after
losing five straight.
The Blazers snapped Utah's home winning streak at seven and
knocked the Jazz two games behind San Antonio in the Midwest
Division.
Danny Manning led Utah with 25 points and Karl Malone had 24.
Malone scored inside with 2:22 to play to give Utah a 97-91
lead.
The Blazers then went to Pippen against Stockton on four
consecutive possessions as he was guarded by Stockton, who is six
inches shorter.
Pippen converted a three-point play, hit a bank shot, threw the
ball away and then hit a 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining to
give the Blazers their first lead, 99-97, since early in the first
quarter.
"The key matchup was Scottie on Stockton. Portland did what
they had to do. Stockton did a good job staying with him but
Scottie kept scoring over the top," Donyell Marshall said.
Manning made a follow shot with six seconds remaining to knot
the game at 99 to set up the crucial Davis foul shots.
Stockton's 3-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out as Pippen
got held up in a Malone screen.
"John's three was right there in the heart, right in and out.
It just popped out for us," Dunleavy said.
The game marked just the second time this season the Jazz shot
50 percent and lost. The other time was also in the Delta Center
against the Blazers when Utah shot 51.4 percent in a 103-102
overtime loss on Dec. 28.
Portland trailed by 11 late in the third quarter, but Wallace
hit a jumper in the lane with 7:33 to play to cap a 16-5 run and
the Blazers caught Utah at 82. The Blazers are now 6-1 in their
last seven games against Utah, although the last four wins have
come by a combined 10 points.
"They've all been tight games. The bounce of the ball one way
or the other could have meant the difference again tonight,"
Dunleavy said.
After grabbing the lead from the Blazers in the opening minutes,
the Jazz led by slim margins throughout the first half with their
biggest advantage coming at halftime, 57-48, on Russell's 3-pointer
before the buzzer.
Manning, who posted his season high, scored 13 points in eight
first-half minutes to keep the Jazz in front while Malone and
Stockton rested on the bench.
The Jazz are only 5-10 against the Western Conference's top
teams: San Antonio (0-3), Portland (1-3), Sacramento (1-2), Dallas
(1-1) and the Lakers (2-1).
Game notes
Wallace, who come into the game with 38 technicals –
matching his own NBA record – was on his best behavior. In the
third quarter after Malone stole the ball from him, Wallace fouled
the Utah forward, immediately raised his hand and said, "I did
it!" ... Russell scored the 5,000th point of his career on a
3-pointer in the second quarter ... Arvida Sabonis, who missed the
Dallas game on Tuesday with a sprained ankle, started and scored
eight points but did not return after leaving with 4:43 left in the
third quarter. ... Portland point guard Damon Stoudamire was
scoreless in 20 minutes.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Portland Clubhouse
Utah Clubhouse
RECAPS
San Antonio 115
Atlanta 101
Cleveland 109
Vancouver 95
Boston 113
New Jersey 98
Portland 101
Utah 99
Phoenix 91
Seattle 88
LA Clippers 97
Houston 92
Sacramento 103
Detroit 98
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