Malone Scores 33 to Lead Utah Past Winless Miami

Karl Malone doesn’t mind being in the national spotlight, but not the way the Miami Heat had in mind Monday night.

The Jazz fell behind the Heat, 9-2, and faced the prospect of becoming the first National Basketball Assn. team to lose to the expansion team. But the Jazz regrouped behind Malone’s 33 points to defeat the Heat, 110-94, Miami’s 17th straight loss.

“When it was 9-2, we knew if they beat us it was national news,” Malone said.

Malone said the Heat’s play inspired Utah, even when Miami led at halftime, 54-46.

“I was a little fearful at halftime,” he said. “Those guys play hard. It was inspirational to me that they could lose so many games in a row and still play hard. It made me want to play harder.”

Miami Coach Ron Rothstein, whose team is three short of the NBA record for consecutive defeats in a season, set by Philadelphia during an 0-20 stretch in 1972-73, said: “Our biggest problem in the third quarter was turnovers. It’s an old story. It’s not the first time this has happened.”

The Heat had 18 turnovers, Utah 16.

Malone, who made 13 consecutive free throws, led a 12-2 run in the first 2:21 of the second half, scoring 7 points as the Jazz went ahead, 66-48.

Malone had 15 points in the third period as Utah, 10-2 at home, built an 83-58 lead on Darrell Griffith’s 3-point basket. The Jazz was ahead, 89-64, at the beginning the fourth period and was in command, 106-74, on Mike Brown’s basket with 4:55 to play.

Utah, which has held opponents to fewer than 100 points in 11 games this season, trailed 9-2 when Miami’s Kevin Edwards scored on a rebound early in the first quarter.

The Jazz then went on an 8-0 spurt and took the lead for good when Thurl Bailey scored on an assist from John Stockton, putting the Jazz ahead, 17-15, with 4:15 left. Stockton finished with 14 assists.

NBA’s WORST STARTS A list of the longest losing streaks to start the season in NBA history:

No. Team Dates 17 Miami Heat Nov. 5 to Dec. 12, 1988 15 Denver Nuggets Oct. 29 to Nov. 25, 1949 15 Cleveland Cavaliers Oct. 14 to Dec. 10, 1970 15 Philadelphia 76ers Oct. 10 to Nov. 10, 1972 11 New Orleans Jazz Oct. 17 to Nov. 8, 1974