Karl Malone Takes Steam Out of Lakers : Pro basketball: He helps turn back a late L.A. rally in Utah’s 101-95 victory.

Diagraming the Utah fast break before Wednesday night’s game, Laker assistant Randy Pfund drew in an arrow, then erased it and drew railroad tracks.

Then he drew a locomotive.

That was Karl Malone.

That was what happened, too. Malone scored nine points in the fourth quarter to blunt a late Laker rally and had 24 overall as the Jazz won, 101-95, in the battle of Western Conference division leaders at the Forum.

The Jazz has won five games in a row. The Laker winning streak, at three before Wednesday, is a memory.

Trailing, 89-77, after the Jazz went on an 18-1 run, the Lakers staged another furious fourth-quarter comeback, cutting the deficit to 92-89 with 2:15 left.

After that, the Jazz turned the lights out.

John Stockton, jumping in between the gap of the Laker press, hit Mike Brown, a 6-9, 260-pound reserve center, with a pass that resulted in a powerful dunk.

A moment later, Malone stormed down the lane for a dunk of his own, then emitted a full-throated cry worthy of Tarzan and flexed his formidable biceps.

Utah’s attack is that subtle. Another time in the fourth quarter, Malone bowled over Sam Perkins like a flamingo lawn statue.

“Way to go, Karl!” Mike Brown yelled. “Run ‘em over.”

Said Malone later: “When that horn starts winding down, only the strong survive.

“When you come here, you can get caught up in it all. You look over and you see everybody in the world seems like they’re sitting there.”

Moments later, Malone accepted congratulations from noted rapper Hammer, who could appreciate someone else’s version of Hammer time.

Although it wasn’t readily apparent, the Lakers started the night with an advantage.

Though both teams had played Tuesday night, the Lakers returned home from Sacramento in their luxury chartered plane, and landed in Los Angeles at midnight.

The Jazz, which charters only for eastern trips, played Tuesday, slept at home, awoke early, flew to Los Angeles, landed in mid-morning and played.

“Our guys probably woke up at 6:30, 7,” Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan said before the game.

Wouldn’t that take something out of them?

“If you want it to,” Sloan said. “All depends on what excuse you want to use.”

The Jazz, who had come to play, shot into a lead that grew to 58-46. But the Lakers hit them with a 14-0 spurt and stormed into a 76-71 lead, looking as if they were going to do to the Jazz what they had done to the Heat, who led them by 15 and fell; to the Bucks, who led by 12 in the fourth quarter and succumbed; to the Kings, who were up 12 Tuesday and bowed.

Not this time. The Jazz hit the Lakers back with the 18-1 run.

The late Laker rally was gallant but futile.

“From our standpoint, our team has to play as well as it can play every night,” Laker Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “I didn’t think we played our best basketball tonight.

“But as long as you get a good effort, you’ve got a chance. We missed a couple of shots. They’re a team with some big-time players, especially Malone. They’ve got the ability to get to the foul line with their power players.”

It was a night for the power players. The Jazz players returned to their hotel to rest before this morning’s happy commercial flight home.

Laker Notes

James Worthy scored 30 points in the first three quarters and finished with 33. . . . Byron Scott, who had 26 points at Sacramento Tuesday, had 20 Wednesday with a season-high five steals. . . . Magic Johnson held a vigorous public workout with Knick Coach Pat Riley in New York and denied reports that he skipped a Donald Trump news conference and a meeting of the President’s AIDS commission because he was ill. Johnson said he had scheduling conflicts. “These things like the Trump press conference--they approached me and asked me if I’d like to be involved,” Johnson said. “I said no. So I don’t show up and they say ‘He’s sick.’ ” I don’t show up in D.C. (for the meeting of the AIDS commission) and they say ‘He’s sick.’ ” . . . Johnson on the tabloids: “My wife and I laugh at these things. You know--now she’s (reported to be) sleeping in the basement, in the maid’s room, things like that. It’s just funny. Michael Cooper used to buy those things and he’d bring them on the bus and he’d leave them around. I’d look at them and and say, ‘Wow, an ape really gave birth to a tiger! And this guy’s wife is sleeping with 20 men!’ Now here I am, on the front page of all of these. None of it’s true.”