NBA Playoffs Roundup : Warriors Go Over the Top, Beat Utah, 123-119

A little bit of fear went a long way for Chris Mullin and the Golden State Warriors.

Mullin scored 41 points as the Warriors, afraid of Utah center Mark Eaton, scored a 123-119 playoff-opening upset over the Jazz Thursday night at Salt Lake City.

“We didn’t want to take the ball inside to Mark Eaton,” Mullin said of Utah’s 7-4 center. “We have to take the outside shot. When we hit them, we look like geniuses.”

Mullin’s basket put the Warriors ahead, 106-93, with 5:03 left, but Utah stormed back.

Thurl Bailey, who scored 27 points, brought the Jazz to within 112-110 on a three-point play with 1:34 left, but that’s where the rally ended.

Winston Garland answered with a basket and a free throw to make it 115-110 with 1:26 left and the Jazz couldn’t mount another challenge.

“I thought we lost the game on fundamentals,” Utah Coach Jerry Sloan said. “We didn’t run back down the court on defense and we didn’t get a lot of defensive rebounds.”

The Warriors made 13 of their first 19 shots and built a 28-15 lead before the first quarter ended. Golden State’s lead was 61-59 at halftime, and the Jazz pulled even twice in the second half, but never took the lead.

Mullin kept the Warriors in the lead by making 18 points in the third quarter, hitting seven of 11 shots, including a three-pointer, and making three free throws.

After Utah tied the score, 68-68, on a basket by Eaton with 8:42 left in the quarter, Mullin hit two straight baskets to spark an 8-1 run. Garland’s 14-footer put the Warriors ahead, 76-69, with 6:06 remaining.

Rookie Mitch Richmond added 30 points for the Warriors, who lost their last six games of the regular season, and Garland added 18.

John Stockton scored 30 points for Utah and Karl Malone added 22, but he was held scoreless in the first quarter and had just six points by halftime.

“This didn’t go Karl’s way,” Sloan said. “He’ll play well next time. That will happen--you won’t be perfect all the time.”

Malone was the NBA’s second-leading scorer this season, averaging 29.1 points per game.

New York 102, Philadelphia 96--Gerald Wilkins scored 34 points and Patrick Ewing had 26, including the go-ahead basket with 2:50 left, as the Knicks got past the 76ers at New York.

The 76ers, who won four of six games between the teams in the regular season, including two victories at Madison Square Garden, stayed close the entire game, never trailing by more than seven points.

The Knicks trailed, 92-91, after 76er rookie Hersey Hawkins’ layup with 3:11 left, his only basket of the game, but Ewing scored 21 seconds later and the Knicks didn’t trail again. However, New York wasn’t in control until Mark Jackson hit a 30-footer to make it 100-96 with 16 seconds left.

Ron Anderson scored 26 points for the 76ers, Charles Barkley had 22 and Maurice Cheeks added 19.

Atlanta 100, Milwaukee 92--Dominique Wilkins and Glenn Rivers scored seven points each in the final 6:34 and the Hawks turned back the Bucks at Atlanta.

The Hawks won all six regular-season meetings against Milwaukee.

The Bucks were even, 79-79, when Rivers made two free throws and Reggie Theus hit one on a technical called on Milwaukee assistant Frank Hamblen with 6:34 left. Wilkins, who finished with 28 points, hit a basket to make it 84-79 and the Bucks never caught up.

Rivers, who had 15 points, stretched the lead to 98-91 on a three-pointer from the right corner with 53 seconds left.

Moses Malone added 23 points for the Hawks. Jay Humphries scored 20 points for Milwaukee, which missed five free throws in the final four minutes.