Malone Milestone Marked by a Loss

Karl Malone hit another milestone, but it wasn’t enough to get the Utah Jazz a victory.

Gary Payton scored 22 points and Ruben Patterson added 21 Saturday night as the Seattle SuperSonics overcame a 17-point second-half deficit to defeat the Jazz, 99-94, at Seattle.

Malone scored 31 points to become the fourth NBA player to score more than 29,000 points. He has 29,012, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), and Michael Jordan (29,277).

Bryon Russell scored 20 points off the bench for the Jazz.

Utah led, 61-44, early in the third period, but the SuperSonics outscored the Jazz, 30-10, to take a three-point lead entering the fourth.

With the SuperSonics ahead, 95-94, Payton hit a turnaround jumper over Malone in the key to give Seattle a three-point lead with 1:05 left. Utah turned the ball over on two of its last three possessions.

Milwaukee 121, Detroit 111--Sam Cassell scored 28 points as the Bucks stormed back from a 17-point deficit and remained the Eastern Conference’s only unbeaten team with a victory over the winless Pistons at Milwaukee.

The Bucks trailed, 83-66, with 5:43 left in the third quarter before making a blistering 18-3 run that cut Detroit’s lead to 86-84 entering the fourth. Ray Allen’s three-point basket with 7:16 to play gave Milwaukee a 97-94 lead, its first since the opening quarter.

Minnesota 114, Sacramento 101--Kevin Garnett scored 31 points to lead the Timberwolves to a victory over the Kings in the second of their two-game, season-opening series at Tokyo.

Garnett, who was 13 of 22 from the field, also grabbed 12 rebounds. He had 34 points in Minnesota’s 100-95 loss in the first game.

Vancouver 109, Denver 94--Mike Bibby scored 17 points and added a franchise-record 16 assists to lead the Grizzlies to a victory over the Nuggets at Vancouver.

Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 27 points and 10 rebounds and Bryant Reeves scored 22 points as the Grizzlies ended a nine-game losing streak dating to the end of last season. Othella Harrington added 20 points, marking only the second time the Grizzlies had three players score 20 or more points in a game.

Indiana 115, Boston 108--The Pacers opened their new home--Conseco Fieldhouse--by defeating the Celtics behind 29 points by Reggie Miller.

Miller, honored at halftime as one of the 50 greatest players in Indiana basketball history, had 15 points in the opening quarter when the Pacers took the lead for good.

Atlanta 113, Chicago 97--Dikembe Mutombo scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead seven Hawks in double-figure scoring as they defeated the Bulls at Atlanta for their first victory of the season.

Cleveland 102, New York 93--Shawn Kemp scored 25 points, most of them from the free-throw line, to lead the Cavaliers to a victory at Cleveland.

Kemp made 17 of 18 free throws, including a team-record 13 in the first quarter to help Cleveland to its third consecutive victory after a season-opening loss in New York.

Orlando 107, Washington 104--John Amaechi scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Magic defeated the Wizards at Washington. Amaechi dominated an 11-4 run over a 2:40 span that erased a 76-74 Washington lead and gave Orlando the lead for good.

Dallas 120, Golden State 97--Michael Finley scored 23 points and Cedric Ceballos had 22, leading six Mavericks in double figures as they defeated the Warriors at Oakland.

Around the League

Miami Heat rookie Rodney Buford, who was found with a small amount of marijuana in a Toronto airport earlier this week, likely will not be fined by the team or the NBA, his agent said Saturday. Buford has offered to take random drug tests to convince the Heat he is drug-free.