Lakers Get Picked On

NBA dynasties rise and fall and rise again.

Magic is gone and Kobe comes along. Kareem retires and now Shaq inspires. Showtime is replaced by the reign of the raging Bulls. Michael Jordan retires and returns.

And through it all, from era to era, they go on for the Utah Jazz, Karl Malone and John Stockton, seemingly never aging, never fading, never failing to successfully run that unstoppable pick-and-roll.

They were at it again Wednesday night at the Delta Center against the Lakers, coming up with the key plays to clinch a 92-84 victory to the delight of a sellout crowd of 19,911.

It was one of the Lakers’ sloppiest games this season. They committed a season-high 24 turnovers leading to 32 Jazz points.

Utah was successful on 32 of 36 free throws, the 32 a season high for a Laker opponent.

After going seven for 10 from the field in the first half en route to 23 points, Laker guard Kobe Bryant, with Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko all over him, was 0 for 9 in the second half.

Yet with all that, the Lakers were right there at the end, trailing by only four points, 84-80, with 21/2 minutes to play.

Up stepped 38-year-old Malone to make a rare three-point shot.

Up stepped 39-year-old Stockton to feed Kirilenko on a play that resulted in a foul and Utah’s 88th point.

Up stepped 17-year veteran Malone to get his team’s 89th point on a free throw.

And finally, with the refrigerator door still cracked open, the Lakers trailing by five with 20 seconds to play, up stepped 18-year veteran Stockton to feed Scott Padgett for the three-pointer that sealed the game, improved the Jazz to 34-26 and dropped the Lakers (42-18) out of a tie for the best record in the Western Conference.

Malone led Utah with 23 points and eight rebounds. He made only five of 13 shots, but he made up for it at the free-throw line by connecting on 12 of 13. Stockton was right behind him with 19 points.

The longest running act in basketball history is alive and well.

After the game, Laker Coach Phil Jackson conceded he’d seen this act many times before. But he wasn’t talking about Malone and Stockton.

“The officials got caught up in the B.S. that the Jazz do in the third quarter,” he said, “and just sent them to the line all the time.... I’ve been watching this for 15 years.... They create fouls. I don’t get upset. I just laugh and let it go. That’s just what it is.

“It was a no-win situation. We’d play defense and they’d turn it into a foul, and at the other end of the court, we weren’t handling the ball very well.”

When the remarks about the officiating were relayed to Malone after the game, emotion flowed into his usually passive face.

“Of course, of course,” he said. “We never beat anybody. There’s always an excuse, but whatever ... whatever.”

Bryant returned after sitting out two games for punching the Indiana Pacers’ Reggie Miller and, at first, it appeared he was returning in peak form, despite the fact he had to adjust to the altitude and despite the fact he and his teammates had arrived in Salt Lake City late Tuesday night after the Laker game at Staples Center against the New Jersey Nets.

Bryant was even in his buzzer-beater mode, connecting from 40 feet as the half ended to push his club into a 47-44 lead.

Bryant, who had five turnovers, later revealed that he again jammed his left thumb in the first half, an injury that he had initially suffered last week. But he refused to use that as an excuse for his frustrating second half.

“The tempo of the game changed,” said Bryant, whose 26 points were second only to Shaquille O’Neal’s 28. “I obviously had some good looks that weren’t falling.”

The victory was only Utah’s second against 12 losses against the top five teams in the Western Conference.

Malone was also asked about those 12 losses after the game.

His terse reply: “Next question.”

Any sign of burnout on the horizon?

“After 17 years,” he said, “winning is still fun no matter who you play.”

Some day the fun will end. Malone and Stockton can’t play forever, can they?

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