Jazz Scores Early, Often in Victory

The quick-starting Utah Jazz had 36 points in the first quarter. Not bad for a bunch of old men.

Karl Malone scored a season-high 33 points and John Stockton, fighting a respiratory illness, scored 17 as the Jazz beat the New York Knicks, 98-90, Wednesday night at Salt Lake City.

“We’re old, remember?” said Malone, 36. “We’re two or three steps slower now. We can’t play with other teams, right? I try not to read it anymore. I get tired of hearing how old I am.”

The Jazz made its first 10 shots and 15 of its first 16 to build a 34-14 lead after almost nine minutes.

“A lot of those shots came because our defense put us in a position to take better shots,” Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan said.

Utah cooled off in the second and third quarters but it was enough to outlast the Knicks.

Stockton, who also had 11 assists, showed no signs of the infection and played 30 minutes after being listed as questionable until tipoff.

Latrell Sprewell had 24 points for New York one night after scoring 26 in a victory at Denver.

But all that mattered was New York’s weak first quarter.

“It would have been nice to come in here and get a win [but] we laid an egg, especially in the first quarter,” center Marcus Camby said. “I mean, games like this, you’ve got to be pumped up, juice yourself up, trick your mind that you’re going to go out and play hard.”

It was New York’s fourth loss in five games after starting the season with three wins in a row.

Charlotte 104, Dallas 99--Eddie Jones had 24 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals as the Hornets held off a Maverick rally at Charlotte, N.C.

Charlotte, winless in four road games this season, improved to 5-0 at home.

Robert Pack had 27 points and 14 assists for the Mavericks, who trailed by 16 points in the fourth quarter, but cut it to three points four times.

Miami 98, Philadelphia 93--Alonzo Mourning had 27 points and 14 rebounds despite foul trouble at Philadelphia to help the Heat end the 76ers’ three-game winning streak.

The Heat improved to 7-2, the best nine-game start in franchise history.

Allen Iverson failed to score 30 points for the first time in six games for Philadelphia, finishing with 24 on eight-for-27 shooting.

Portland 81, Orlando 79--Rasheed Wallace made a turnaround jumper with 1.3 seconds left, then stole an inbounds pass on the Magic’s final possession in the Trail Blazers’ victory at Orlando, Fla.

Wallace finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds to help Portland win at Orlando Arena for the first time since January 1992 and improve the NBA’s best record to 8-1.

Chris Gatling led Orlando with 21 points.

Seattle 111, Golden State 108--Vin Baker scored 23 points and Gary Payton added 21 as the SuperSonics held off a late Warrior surge at Seattle.

The SuperSonics committed two shot-clock violations in the final 90 seconds and nearly squandered a 12-point lead.

Antawn Jamison led the Warriors with 27 points.

Boston 114, Cleveland 103--Paul Pierce scored 30 points, including 23 in the second half, as the Celtics rallied from a 15-point, first-half deficit to beat the Cavaliers at Boston.

Pierce also had 11 rebounds and four assists for the Celtics, who trailed by seven points at the end of the third quarter before outscoring the Cavaliers, 38-20, in the fourth.

Shawn Kemp scored 27 points for Cleveland.

Phoenix 105, Chicago 81--Penny Hardaway and Tom Gugliotta scored 18 points apiece at Phoenix to help the Suns end a three-game losing streak.

Hardaway and Oliver Miller each scored four points as the Suns closed the third-quarter with a 15-4 run to take an 82-61 lead. The Bulls were four for 18 from the field and committed nine turnovers in the period.

Elton Brand scored 19 points for the Bulls.

Detroit 109, New Jersey 107--Grant Hill scored 32 points, and Christian Laettner had 20 and 10 rebounds as the Pistons won the matchup of struggling teams at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Stephon Marbury led the Nets with 35 points, and Keith Van Horn had 30 as New Jersey lost for the fourth consecutive time and fell to 1-7.

NBA Notes

Atlanta Hawk guard Isaiah Rider returned to practice after a one-game suspension for conduct deemed detrimental to the team, but balked at becoming the team’s sixth man, saying he deserves to be a starter “either here or there.” Rider refused to characterize his comments as a trade demand, but General Manager Pete Babcock said he would try to accommodate him if it was. . . . Houston Rocket guard Steve Francis was fined $5,000 by the NBA for a flagrant foul he committed Tuesday night against the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki. . . . Golden State Warrior center Erick Dampier will have arthroscopic surgery today to determine the cause of persistent swelling in his left knee.