For the Jazz, First Half Is Again Notable

A season after its first Western Conference championship, the Utah Jazz hasn’t missed a beat.

Utah won its seventh consecutive game, 106-99 over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night at Salt Lake City. At 24-11, the Jazz is a game ahead of the pace it set last season on the way to a franchise-best 64-18 record.

“Nobody’s talking about us now, and that’s the way we like it,” said Utah guard Jeff Hornacek, who scored 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

“In some areas offensively we’re playing much better [than last year],” Coach Jerry Sloan said. “We have more options, and we’re usually more patient.”

John Stockton had 22 points and 12 assists for the Jazz, which was eight of 10 from three-point range. Karl Malone had 19 points despite missing all six of his shots in the first half.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas posted career-highs with 26 points and 17 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who lost their third straight game. Shawn Kemp scored 16 of his 18 points for Cleveland in the second half.

Cleveland used a 14-4 run in the second quarter to take a 42-36 lead, but the Jazz scored 11 points in the final 1:21 of the half, including a three-pointer by Bryon Russell at the buzzer to take a 54-49 lead. Russell hit three three-point goals on the night, and all of them came at crucial points in the game.

Minnesota 103, Golden State 87--Kevin Garnett scored 21 points as the Timberwolves rallied to defeat the Warriors at Minneapolis.

Cherokee Parks had 14 points for the Timberwolves, who won for the eighth time in 10 games and moved three games over .500 (19-16) for only the third time in team history.

Donyell Marshall scored 19 points for the Warriors, who have lost seven in a row.

New Jersey 108, Toronto 100--Kerry Kittles scored a season-high 31 points at Toronto as the Nets ended a road losing streak at four games.

Sherman Douglas, filling in for injured starter Sam Cassell at point guard, had 15 assists and 16 points for New Jersey. Kendall Gill, Keith Van Horn and Jayson Williams each scored 18 points for the Nets.

Damon Stoudamire scored 19 points for the Raptors, who have lost 16 of their last 17 home games.

Sacramento 96, Phoenix 90--Mitch Richmond scored 14 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and made a big defensive play as the Kings rallied at Sacramento.

With the Kings clinging to a 90-86 lead, Richmond blocked Rex Chapman’s three-point shot, retrieved the ball and passed to Tariq Abdul-Wahad for a dunk that put Sacramento ahead, 92-86, with 29 seconds remaining.

Corliss Williamson scored 25 points and Michael Stewart had a career-high 19 rebounds for Sacramento.

NBA Notes

Tony Lavelli Jr., who played for the Boston Celtics and once played his accordion at halftime, is dead at 71. Lavelli, who had homes in Somerville and Laconia, N.H., died in Laconia on Thursday. He was a star basketball player at Somerville High School in the 1940s and an All-American at Yale, scoring 1,964 points, a record that stood for 35 years. He was the No. 1 draft pick of the Celtics in 1949. Lavelli played “Lady of Spain” on his accordion for 5,000 fans at halftime of a 1949 game against the Minneapolis Lakers in which he scored 26 points. He was paid $125 for the musical interlude.