Malone and Jazz Finally Fall Flat

We don’t know for sure yet if this is it for the Utah Jazz.

At the very least, Portland’s 92-80 victory at the Rose Garden that closed out this Western Conference semifinal series in six games pushed the Jazz closer to the brink, placing this familiar, predictable team into a new state of uncertainty.

The Trail Blazers know they will advance to face the San Antonio Spurs in the conference finals, beginning Saturday in the Alamodome.

The Jazz? It knows that John Stockton, Karl Malone, Jeff Hornacek, Shandon Anderson, Thurl Bailey and Greg Foster are free agents. Utah knows that even if the team remains intact it will only be older next season, in the midst of Western Conference foes that have the potent mix of youth and experience.

“We’ve got to get over this loss, first,” Stockton said. “We’ll be all right. We’ll go from there.

“It’s foolish to ever think that a team with as many free agents as we have will ever stick together in its entirety. That’s really unusual for that to happen; in fact, it has maybe never happened.

“We’ll let the team decide. In terms of what direction they want to go is something, I guess, we’ll find out as time goes on.”

You could say that Stockton’s last-gasp three-pointer that air-balled in the final minute was symbolic of a team and a player that don’t have enough left and came up short. At least Stockton was trying.

You could say that Malone didn’t come through in the clutch. But that would be redundant.

If this game leads to the breakup of the Jazz it would add to a stain on Malone’s reputation that is spreading like ink out of a leaky fountain pen.

Thursday night Malone added an eight-point, 3-for-16 shooting performance to his dubious record that includes more fade-outs than memorable baskets among his 29,000 career points. He didn’t score in the fourth quarter of Utah’s overtime win against Sacramento in the decisive fifth game in the first round. He shied away from contact and the ball in the fourth quarter of Utah’s loss in Game 4 of this series.

And in Game 6, with the season hanging in the balance and the Jazz fighting to stay in the game, Malone went the last 5 1/2 minutes of the game without so much as touching the ball on offense until the last 10 seconds, with the outcome already decided. Malone didn’t reach double figures in any category besides shots despite playing 45 minutes. A player who practically makes his living by getting to the free-throw line--where he has scored a third of his career points--took only three foul shots Thursday.

In Games 1 and 5--Utah’s only victories in this series--he at least did something by catching Portland forward Brian Grant in the face with elbows.

Grant eschewed any type of retaliation attempt in Game 6, while Malone just didn’t bother to do anything at all.

Malone’s scoring woes came despite seeing single coverage almost exclusively. Grant--and every Trail Blazer, for that matter--faced double-teams every time the ball went into the post. Grant managed only seven points, but he did pull down 12 rebounds to Malone’s seven.

The Jazz (led by Jeff Hornacek’s 21 points) was able to hang within two points with less than 90 seconds remaining in spite of Malone.

“My teammates were playing really good,” Malone said. “I don’t think I played really good basketball tonight. They did. If I could have gave them a little bit of something we could have won.

“I’ll deal with that. That’s my thing. It’ll be a tough summer, I think I’ll get over that.”

Malone, to his credit, did stick around to face the media, the way he does after good and bad performances. Stockton slid through the mob of reporters while Malone was talking and went down the hallway, where a pair of reporters caught up to him.

Stockton has always preferred to let his play speak for him, and he didn’t need to apologize for his 14-point, 10-assist game Thursday. Portland’s one-two punch of Damon Stoudamire and Greg Anthony definitely took its toll on him.

Meanwhile, those fresh Portland legs (Grant was the only Trail Blazer to play more than 32 minutes) paid off in the fourth quarter. The Trail Blazers made all 14 of their free throws in the final 4:04 to keep the Jazz at bay. Portland shot 91% from the line (31 of 34). Isaiah Rider was perfect on 14 free throws to help him to 24 points.

After the game, Rider threw his shirt into the crowd, the way Bill Walton did after Portland won the NBA championship in 1977.

And he tossed this advice to Malone for how to spend his newfound free time: “Go out there and ride a horse or something.”

Around the NBA

Brian Grant of the Portland Trail Blazers was given the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in recognition of his work with local charities, including a drive to help feed disadvantaged families.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.