Malone 3-Pointer Beats L.A. : Lakers: Jazz forward launches shot with 0.6 seconds left in 104-103 win. Divac suffers bruised knee.

Try this for an unlikely finish: Karl Malone, the NBA’s consummate power forward and low-post demon, launching a game-winning three-point shot with 0.6 seconds left for a 104-103 Utah Jazz victory over the Lakers.

It actually happened Sunday night at the Forum.

Malone, who had terrorized counterpart (and center by attrition) A.C. Green by backing into the basket all night, found himself with the ball and no option but to shoot. His high-arch projectile swished through the basket, erasing a 103-101 Laker lead.

The Lakers had a desperation attempt of their own left, but Magic Johnson’s one-handed push shot from three-point range bounced off the backboard, then the front line and fell out.

Maybe just as improbable as the finish was that the Lakers could remain competitive without a true center.

After first losing starting center Mychal Thompson before the opening tipoff to a sprained left ankle, the Lakers lost reserve Vlade Divac to what doctors diagnosed as a bruised right knee in the second quarter.

Malone, who led the Jazz with 34 points, had made 11 previous three-point shots this season. But it definitely is not his preferred shot. At that stage in the game, however, it was the Jazz’s only shot. Point guard John Stockton had penetrated as far as the Laker defense would let him, then kicked the ball out to Malone.

The loss left the Lakers (40-13) only two games ahead of the Jazz (39-16) for best record in the Western Conference, which means a home-court advantage should the teams meet in the playoffs.

Just as the Lakers beat the Jazz in Utah in November when John Stockton missed the game with a knee injury, the Jazz beat the Lakers when Thompson did not dress with a sprained left ankle suffered near the end of Friday night’s game against Philadelphia.

Attrition hit harder with five minutes left in the second quarter, when Malone and Divac collided under the basket on a lob play for the Jazz forward. Divac clutched the outside of his right knee and writhed in pain.

When play stopped, he hopped into the locker room on one leg. Team doctor Stephen Lombardo examined Divac and called the injury a contusion to the inside of his right knee. Lombardo said Malone’s knee cap hit the inside of Divac’s knee.

Divac remained in the locker room the entire second half, icing the knee. Divac will be examined by Lombardo again today to determine the extent of the injury.

The Lakers were leading by 15 points at the time Divac went down. Slowly, the lead eroded to 10 at halftime and five entering the fourth quarter.

Although rendered centerless, the Lakers still had the nucleus of their team--Johnson, who had 32 points.

He took control in the fourth quarter, making a hook shot with 1:29 to play that gave the Lakers a 102-101 lead. After several exchanges of scoreless possessions, Johnson drove the baseline for a layup when he was fouled--or rather leveled--by Jazz forward Mike Brown.

Perhaps a little dazed, Johnson missed the first free throw. He made the second, giving the Lakers a 103-101 lead with 12.8 seconds left.

The Jazz then called a timeout to set up a final shot to either tie or win the game.

Coach Jerry Sloan’s plan was for Stockton, who had 15 points and 19 assists, to drive to the basket and either shoot the ball himself or find an open man close to the basket. “That was the plan,” Stockton said. “I was supposed to penetrate as far as I could, but A.C. Green did a good job stopping me. I had no where else to pass, and I heard Karl clapping for me. Karl just made a great shot. You wouldn’t want to make a living off it, but it was good enough tonight.”

The ever-confident Malone admitted he did not know that he was behind the three-point line. But he said he is fully capable of making three-pointers.

“Hey, baby, I’ve got the best three-point percentage of anyone on the team,” Malone said. “You can look it up.”

Malone was a little off. Coming into Sunday’s game, Stockton had the best three-point percentage at 44.3%. Malone was second at 40.7%. Still, the point is, he is capable of making that shot.

After Malone’s shot, they still had .6 of a second left. And, with Johnson on the court, there was a chance, albeit slim.

“I thought my shot had a good chance,” Johnson said. “If it had been one or two (seconds) left, you have a better chance. When it’s 0.6, you just get it and throw it up.”

After the game, there was still concern for Divac, who had rolled on the court in pain. The injury looked more severe than the bruise that was diagnosed.

Said Divac: “I feel much better. . . . Now, it is OK. Malone just hit it. I thought it was very bad, because I felt much sore. But after 10, 15 minutes, not much sore. I’m lucky. I thought it was bad, very bad.”

Even if the injury is only a bruise, as the Lakers seem assured, Divac still could miss several games.

Trainer Gary Vitti labeled the availability of Divac and Thompson as “day-to-day.”

Thompson injured his ankle--a mild sprain, Vitti said--on Friday night and it swelled considerably on Saturday night and Sunday.

Laker Notes

Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone said his matchup with A.C. Green, who beat out Malone in fan balloting for a starting spot in the All-Star game, holds little significance. “Just another game,” Malone said prior to Sunday night’s game. “I’m not thinking about what’s happened. I’ll just go out and play. People make a big deal out of anything. I know who I am. It’s not me versus A.C. It’s not just us out there. The other stuff, that’s irrelevant at this point.” Against the Lakers last season, Malone averaged 22 points and 8.5 rebounds. Malone scored 31 points against the Lakers in the first meeting on Nov. 25 in Salt Lake City. Green averaged 4.5 points and shot 36% against Utah last season.

Laker forward Michael Cooper, who played only eight minutes in the first half of Friday night’s victory over the Philadelphia 76ers because of stiffness in his neck from an earlier fall in San Antonio, said his neck feels better. “(Friday night), the pain was in my back,” Cooper said. “I couldn’t even get down in my defensive stance. I’m going to give it another try tonight.”