Stockton Celebrates Twice

John Stockton thrust his left fist into the air, let out a victorious yelp and dashed out of the locker room and down the hallway. The only NBA player from Gonzaga was celebrating the Bulldogs’ one-point victory in the NCAA tournament Thursday.

Oh, and by the way, Stockton’s Utah Jazz had just defeated the Washington Wizards, 95-87, at Washington.

“I’m just excited for those guys,” said Stockton, who plays pickup ball with some of the Gonzaga players every fall before the NBA season starts. “They’ve worked very hard. It feels very good to know them and see them succeed.”

Stockton said he tried to avoid watching the scoreboard while the Jazz was playing, but any distraction he had was cured by the fact that his backup, Howard Eisley, was the star of the game.

Eisley had a season-high 17 points, a career-high 10 rebounds and scored 13 consecutive Jazz points in the second half as Utah ran its winning streak to six games.

“He was everywhere,” Stockton said.

Karl Malone had 24 points and made all 12 of his free throws for the Jazz, which raced to an 18-2 lead and never trailed while fending off several Wizard runs. Washington got as close as one point in the third quarter and within three in the fourth, but Utah responded each time with a run of its own.

Rod Strickland, who returned after sitting out six games because of a right groin strain, had 21 points and 11 assists for the Wizards, who have lost four of five. Poor shooting hurt them again, with Mitch Richmond making only four of 17 shots, Otis Thorpe four of 11 and Juwan Howard nine of 22 as part of a 39% performance by the team.

Orlando 86, New York 78--Rookies Michael Doleac and Matt Harpring carried the Magic down the stretch at New York, Doleac scoring 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Harpring making all six of his free throws in the last 3 1/2 minutes.

Portland 88, Sacramento 78--Rasheed Wallace had 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Trail Blazers at Sacramento.

The Trail Blazers outscored the Kings, 14-3, after Vernon Maxwell made a three-point basket to give Sacramento a 75-74 lead with 5:15 to play.

Vancouver 86, Minnesota 81--Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter at Vancouver to help the Grizzlies end a 13-game losing streak.

Bryant Reeves led the way with 28 points and 13 rebounds--both season highs--as the Grizzlies won for the first time since beating the Lakers on Feb. 23.

Milwaukee 99, Boston 83--Glenn Robinson scored 23 points and Ray Allen added 21 at Milwaukee as the Bucks ended a four-game losing streak.

Chicago 104, New Jersey 95--Toni Kukoc scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Bulls at Chicago.