Jazz Takes Charge in the Third

Utah held a nine-point halftime lead Thursday night in Salt Lake City, but it was like a volcano waiting to erupt.

It did in the third quarter of a 110-86 victory over Portland, getting 10 points from Jeff Hornacek in a 25-0 blitz that buried the Trail Blazers.

“We got a lot of deflections, we got some steals, break-away layup and dunks in the third quarter,” said Hornacek. “We had good defensive pressure, we didn’t give them second shots, and Greg [Ostertag] did a lot of rebounding [seven in the period].”

It was Utah’s ninth win in its last 10 games, and the way it came wasn’t so unusual.

Utah has outscored its opponents in the third quarter by 14, nine and 15 points in three of its previous four games. Thursday, the Jazz outscored Portland, 38-13, holding the Trail Blazers to only 5-for-18 shooting. Since the end of December, the Jazz has had four similar third quarters in which it has outscored opponents by 15 or more points, and three others by 10 or more.

“The game got away from us and we were never in it after the seven-minute mark of the third quarter,” Trail Blazer Coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “I thought we were in decent shape at the half, but then we shot the ball so poorly.”

Miami 106, Indiana 90--Tim Hardaway had five of his 14 assists and eight of his 18 points during a 21-2 second-quarter run at Miami that sent the Heat to its eighth consecutive win.

Miami, which got 29 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and three steals from Alonzo Mourning, has won 13 of its last 15 games, seven in a row at home.

New York 107, Philadelphia 92--Allan Houston scored 28 points and the Knicks clamped down on rookie Allen Iverson, holding him to 4-for-19 shooting and 13 points in a victory in New York.

The Knicks outscored the Sixers, 15-8, in the final 5:33 after they closed to within 92-84. Philadelphia trailed by 15 points in the third quarter.

Golden State 107, Dallas 99--Latrell Sprewell scored 28 points and Joe Smith added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Warriors, whose losing streak ended at four with a victory at Dallas.

Sprewell fell far short of the 46 points he scored in the Warriors’ 105-93 decision over Dallas on Jan. 21, the last meeting between the teams, but he still made nine of 18 from the field for Golden State.