For Jazz, the Rust is History

The Utah Jazz, in mid-slumber since finishing off the Lakers in some far-off land known as late May, rubbed the sleep out of their collective eyes Wednesday night for the start of the NBA finals. Then they kept rubbing, wondering about the alarm that has supposedly been set but didn’t go off. That didn’t count the constant clangs generated by Karl Malone’s jumpers ricocheting off the rim.

The wake-up call came in the form of the blown seven-point lead with about four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but it came nonetheless in an 88-85 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Forced into overtime after having gone nine full days without any games, the Jazz did not waste another opportunity, finally closing out the Bulls before 19,911 at the Delta Center to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.

It pretty much went according to script--the Jazz appearing rusty at times and the Bulls, coming off a seven-game Eastern Conference finals, appearing tired at the worst of times, down the stretch, when they went a combined nine of 24 the final 17 minutes. What no one could anticipate was Malone missing 16 of his first 22 shots and finishing nine of 25 from the field, making Utah gut out a close victory without the expected impact from its best player.

There was always the second best. John Stockton made nine of 12 shots with eight assists and had 24 points, the most prominent of which came on the fly. Literally.

Providing some consistency to a Jazz world that had been rocked down the stretch, it came on a pick-and-roll. Malone set it at the three-point line on the left side, not far from the Bulls’ bench, and Stockton used it, drawing defender Steve Kerr close enough to Malone to draw some contact and create an opening. Stockton, either looking to add to the 84-82 cushion or to protect it considering the way the play was developing, headed down the lane.

“It seemed like some guys fanned out to the passing lanes,” Stockton said.

He got all the way to the free throw line, then started to go up. Stockton was nine feet out when, with Kerr still in pursuit, he lofted the runner.

“I just shot the shot,” he said.

He just sealed the win.

When it fell through, the Jazz had an insurmountable 86-82 edge with 9.3 seconds left.

“John was able to make a shot off something that wasn’t that good,” Utah Coach Jerry Sloan said.

He was able to make the night, actually. The basket became all the more crucial when, out of a timeout, Toni Kukoc made a three-pointer for the Bulls with 5.4 seconds remaining. But Chicago was forced to foul, so Scottie Pippen hit Stockton intentionally, and Stockton made two free throws with 3.5 showing for the final 88-85 margin.

That the Bulls in the end were left to contemplate more than a loss only made matters worse. They had wasted 33 points from Michael Jordan, 15 of which came in the second quarter, long before he seemed to wear down, along with most every teammate. They had barely missed a chance to not only steal home-court advantage, but to do so with a huge emotional lift, a late comeback on the road.

And, worst of all, they had felt as if they put the dagger in Stockton’s hands. No wonder.

Chicago had that 84-82 deficit when a 24-second violation ended one possession, the final several ticks of which burned off as Jordan held the ball at the right post, his back to the basket and unable to dig down somewhere for a move. That turnover came with 1:18 left in overtime.

The Jazz did not capitalize--this time--so the Bulls got another chance. Then they got another turnover, their second in a row in a critical situation, coming when Luc Longley lost control inside, allowing Utah’s Bryon Russell to gain control after a scramble and call timeout with 28.4 seconds left. That became the opportunity for Stockton’s biggest shot.

“On our turnovers, they were really able to make us pay,” Chicago Coach Phil Jackson said. “That’s a mark of their team.”

And the black-and-blue mark the Bulls wear today. Fifteen turnovers in all that led to 21 Jazz points . . . and one Jazz victory.

“I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to get a win on their court,” Jackson said. “We feel like we let one slip away.”

It probably didn’t help that the Bulls realized this was a real gift waiting to be heisted, seeing as Malone doesn’t figure to struggle like this again. Twenty-one points and a game-high 14 rebounds, yes, but with nothing going for him outside the paint, especially strange since he had hurt the Lakers so dramatically in the Western Conference finals not with his vaunted post-up game, but from the perimeter. One game later--although 10 days later--Malone couldn’t hit anything from the outside.

His jumper came with 1:43 left in regulation, but it was a big basket, a 15-footer that gave the Jazz a two-point lead. The next time down, he hit from 19 feet out, also on the right side, for a 79-75 advantage.

Welcome to his hot streak.

“I was wide open and able to get some good looks at it,” he said. “That’s what it’s about. Sure I would have felt bad if we lost the ballgame and I didn’t shoot the basketball really well. But I think down the stretch you can’t be afraid to take the next shot.”

Best of seven

Game 1: Utah 88, Chicago 85, OT

Friday: Chicago at Utah, 6 p.m.

Sunday: Utah at Chicago, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday: Utah at Chicago, 6 p.m.

June 12: Utah at Chicago, 6 p.m. *

June 14: Chicago at Utah, 4:30 p.m. *

June 17: Chicago at Utah, 6 p.m. *

* If necessary

* LATEST: Jordan says series outcome won’t affect decision. C9