This Team Still Jazzed : With the Series Tied, 2-2, Utah’s Malone Says: ‘We’re Not Going to Stop Here’

Forward Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz was talking to himself after the Jazz blew a nine-point third-quarter lead against the Lakers in Game 4 of their National Basketball Assn. Western Conference playoff series.

“Tough loss, it’s just a tough loss,” Malone said after the Lakers evened the series at 2-2 with a 113-100 come-from-behind win over the Jazz Sunday at the Salt Palace. “We let one get away and we don’t feel good about getting a split at home.

“Some people think it’s the end of the world because we lost,” said Malone, who led Utah with 29 points. “But this loss is water under the bridge. Right now the momentum is with them just like it was after we beat them in the Forum Tuesday. It’s evident that the home-court advantage has switched to them. But we’re not going to stop here.

“It’s not time to go play golf. We can’t pull apart. We know we have to go to L.A. and win a game. What’s wrong with Tuesday night?”

The Jazz seemed on the verge of blowing the defending world champions out of the Salt Palace after they opened the third quarter with an 11-3 run to take a 65-56 lead just 2:54 into the second half.

Guard Bobby Hansen, who had 9 of Utah’s 11 points in the third-quarter spurt, said the Jazz couldn’t handle success.

“I think we got overanxious and started rushing our shots after we got the (9-point) lead,” said Hansen, who scored 18 points. “That was the turning point of the game. And they shot 52% today--that was a big difference.”

Asked what went wrong in the third quarter, Malone said: “I don’t know what happened. We didn’t take our time on our shots and we rushed things. We started forcing our shots. They made their shots and we didn’t.”

With Hansen and center Mark Eaton on the bench because of foul trouble, Utah self-destructed as the Lakers took command of the game with a 23-9 run at the end of the third quarter.

Utah, which had used its fast-break offense to build the lead, got out of sync as the Lakers forced them into a half-court offense.

“We lost our poise in the third quarter,” Utah Coach Frank Layden said. “We kept trying to throw the knockout punch, but instead we hurt ourselves and they got into their running game. We may have felt too comfortable after we got the lead and they’re too good of a team for that.

“The advantage is back to the Lakers,” Layden continued. “It’s a three-game series with two games at their place. We’ve got to go over there and do what no other team has done, except us, and beat them at the Forum.”

The Lakers also did a good job of neutralizing Eaton, Utah’s 7-4 center. Eaton, who had outplayed Laker center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the Jazz won two straight, wasn’t as effective on defense because he got into foul trouble.

Eaton, who blocked 13 shots as Utah upset the Lakers in games 2 and 3, had just one blocked shot Sunday.

Eaton felt that referees Jake O’Donnell and Dick Bavetta called a tight game, which handcuffed the Jazz on defense.

“I thought I got a couple of tough calls at the end of the first half but you’ve got to deal with it,” Eaton said of the officiating. “They called this game a little tighter than they did in the past. You are not going to play without foul trouble.”

Said reserve forward Thurl Bailey, who also struggled after being whistled for three quick fouls: “The refs were trying to be on their Ps and Qs today and they called a tight game.”

Mel Turpin, Eaton’s backup was ineffective, as the Lakers exploited the middle of Utah’s defense.

“We’ve said all along that Mark is the key to our defense,” Malone said of Eaton. “We play five or six people and we can’t afford to lose people (due to foul trouble). When we go to the bench we lose something.”

Said guard John Stockton, who had 21 points and 13 assists: “Take Mark Eaton out and that hurts us. We had them in foul trouble the last game but today they had us in foul trouble.

“But give credit to the Lakers. They’re a great team and they played well.”

After scoring just 6 and 10 points against Eaton in his previous two games, Abdul-Jabbar had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots Sunday.

“I think his timing was back today,” Eaton said of Abdul-Jabbar, who made 9 of 16 shots Sunday after making just 6 of 27 from the floor during his two-game slump. “He didn’t become the greatest scorer of all time by shooting 3 for 14 every night. He was an important cog in their offense today.”

Johnson, who led the Lakers’ third-quarter surge, also hurt the Jazz as much as Abdul-Jabbar.

Hansen and backup guard Bart Kofoed, who had held Johnson in check, couldn’t contain Magic in Game 4. Johnson scored 10 points during the Lakers’ third quarter run and finished with 24 points, 9 assists and 2 rebounds.

Hansen and Kofoed were also hampered because they were in foul trouble.

“Magic went right at me and I got some cheap fouls,” Kofoed said. “But this game is behind us.”

Said Hansen: “He (Johnson) seemed real frisky out there. He was pushing the ball up the floor early in the game.”

Hansen was involved in a minor altercation with Johnson after they got tangled up late in the game.

“It was just frustration on my part,” Hansen said. “I went over and apologized to him (Johnson).”

Malone was also involved in pushing and shoving matches under the boards with Laker forward A.C. Green, who started the game in place of Kurt Rambis. Green, however, refused to be intimidated by Malone’s physical play.

Malone tried to play down his battles with Green.

“Nobody got injured,” Malone said. “It’s a very emotional series. The series will be physical starting Tuesday.”