NBA PLAYOFF ROUNDUP : Suns Prove to Be No Match for Jazz, 129-90

Going into the NBA playoffs, one of the most attractive matchups was the Phoenix Suns against the Utah Jazz.

However, it wasn’t pretty Thursday night at Phoenix.

Karl Malone scored 12 of his 27 points Utah’s 44-point third quarter as the Jazz defeated the Suns, 129-90, in the opening game of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Utah made 65% of its shots (54 of 83).

The victory margin was the largest ever in the playoffs for the Jazz, who limped into the postseason without a home-court advantage after blowing the Midwest Division title with a loss to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.

It was the worst playoff loss in the Suns’ 23-year NBA history, topping a 129-94 defeat to the Lakers on April 9, 1970. Utah’s previous most lopsided victory in the postseason was 108-80 over the Lakers on May 19, 1988.

Jeff Malone scored 21 points and John Stockton had 18 points and 15 assists for Utah, which built a 33-point third-quarter lead and won in Phoenix for only the fifth time in 48 games.

Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Saturday at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the Suns were 32-9 during the regular season.

Rookie Negele Knight paced Phoenix with 18 points. Kevin Johnson had 14, but only three in the second half. Jeff Hornacek missed all eight of his field-goal attempts.

Chicago 126, New York 85--It was even more one-sided in Chicago, where Michael Jordan scored 28 points and Scottie Pippen added 25 as the Bulls forced 27 turnovers and handed the Knicks their worst playoff loss ever.

The worst previous postseason defeat for the Knicks, who entered the playoffs as the only team with a losing record (39-43), was 130-90 against Philadelphia on April 16, 1978.

Patrick Ewing was never a factor, scoring six points, the first time in 228 games he failed to reach double figures. He took only seven shots and didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

“I am frustrated by the whole situation,” Ewing said. “The whole thing, getting blown out and the fact I didn’t get the ball. This is a new season. We have two more games to play. We’ve got to come out with more intensity.”

The Knicks had 15 turnovers in the first half, which ended with the Bulls in front, 65-36. It was 93-57 after three quarters.

San Antonio 130, Golden State 121--Willie Anderson scored a career-high 38 points and David Robinson and Rod Strickland had 30 points apiece as the host Spurs held off a late rally by the Warriors.

The Spurs led throughout the second half and by as many as 19 points in the fourth quarter. But the Warriors, who scored 49 points in the final 12 minutes, closed within six points twice in the final four minutes.

Consecutive slam dunks by Robinson in the final two minutes put the game out of reach of Golden State. Robinson also had 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots.

The Lakers hold the playoff record for points in a quarter. They scored 51 against Detroit in 1962.

Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin led the Warriors with 29 points each. Tim Hardaway scored 19.

The Warriors, who had said all week their goal was to shut down Robinson, were physical with the 7-foot-1 center throughout the game. A flagrant foul and a shoving match involving Robinson and two different Golden State players led to two bench-clearing confrontations in the first half.

Philadelphia 99, Milwaukee 90--Hersey Hawkins scored 25 points and the 76ers used an 11-0 third-quarter run to beat the Bucks at Milwaukee.

Charles Barkley, playing with a knee brace to protect a sprained ligament, had 19 points, including six dunks. Armon Gilliam scored 17 and Rickey Green 16 for Philadelphia.

Frank Brickowski led the Bucks with 22 points, but he had only six in the second half in a game played before thousands of empty seats in the upper areas of the Bradley Center. Attendance was 15,908 at the 18,633-seat arena.

There were six technical fouls and two flagrant fouls called in the game.