Surging Spurs Turn Trip Into a Nightmare for Jazz

Blown out at Houston and smacked in the first quarter at San Antonio, the Utah Jazz probably can’t wait to go home.

Utah dropped its third in a row to a Texas team, 106-88, to San Antonio on Thursday night as Tim Duncan scored 29 points and Derek Anderson added 23 as the Spurs swept the four-game season series between the Western Conference rivals.

The Jazz fell, 98-90, at home to the Dallas Mavericks on Monday before being handed its worst loss of the season, 109-86, at Houston the next night. Against the Spurs, Utah trailed, 36-18, after the first quarter and never got closer than 13.

“These are gut-check times and you see what you’re made of,” said Karl Malone, who led Utah with 24 points. “We have 11 games left. I know many people think this thing [the division race] is over with. We just have to play hard and see what happens.”

The Jazz (47-24) trails the Spurs by 3 1/2 games in the Midwest Division. San Antonio has the league’s best record at 51-21.

“It’s definitely something that we need, those kind of games, those kind of series,” Duncan said. “Knowing that we’re going to the playoffs, we might see them. Having that confidence, having that dominance over them, it’s great for us.”

San Antonio charged to an early lead on the strength of Duncan’s 14-point first quarter.

The Spurs opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers by Anderson and Terry Porter and sank seven of their first nine shots.

A jumper by Duncan, which he followed with a dunk when Utah lost the ball on a shot-clock violation, ignited an 18-2 burst that gave San Antonio a 31-14 lead with 1:34 left in the quarter.

Milwaukee 104, Miami 96--Glenn Robinson scored 27 points and three reserves combined for 40 more as the Bucks beat the Heat at Milwaukee.

Robinson snapped a 92-92 tie with a short jumper in the lane with 2:42 remaining. After Miami’s Tim Hardaway made two free throws and tied the game at 94, Robinson countered with another field goal to give the Bucks the lead for good.

Anthony Mason scored 18 points and Grant added 15 for Miami, which is 0-2 since center Alonzo Mourning (eight points and six rebounds in 19 minutes), diagnosed with a kidney disease in October, returned to the lineup.

Boston 106, Chicago 104--Antoine Walker had a triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, and Paul Pierce scored a game-high 24 points at Chicago as the Celtics won their fourth in a row.

Milt Palacio added a career-high 19 points for Boston, which took sole possession of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference after Indiana lost to Atlanta.

Phoenix 90, Houston 85--Jason Kidd scored a career-high 43 points for the Suns, including 16 of their last 17 points, as they rallied past the Rockets at Houston.

Atlanta 104, Indiana 93--Jason Terry scored 28 points and Nazr Mohammed added 18 as the Hawks defeated the Pacers at Atlanta.

Vancouver 89, New York 68--Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 30 points as the Grizzlies ended a nine-game losing streak with a victory over the Knicks at Vancouver, Canada.

Washington 116, Golden State 100--Richard Hamilton scored a career-high 41 points to lead the Wizards at Washington.