Karl Malone scored 10 of his 24 points in the third quarter as the Utah
Jazz rolled to their sixth straight win and gave coach Jerry Sloan his
600th career triumph with a 111-84 thrashing of the injury-depleted
Houston Rockets.
Sloan became the 13th coach in NBA history to reach 600 wins and the
first since Philadelphia 76ers coach Larry Brown, who reached the
plateau with Indiana last season. Sloan's career record with the Jazz and
Chicago Bulls is 600-370.
John Stockton and Shandon Anderson added 16 points apiece for the
Jazz, who matched their longest winning streak of the season. Utah also
won six in a row from November 22nd-December 3rd.
Kevin Willis scored 20 points to lead the Rockets, who have lost four
straight games to the Jazz, including the last two of the Western
Conference finals.
Houston was without four starters as All-Stars Hakeem Olajuwon,
Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley and point guard Matt Maloney all
were sidelined by injuries.
"They've got three great players sitting down," Sloan said. "You're not
going to replace those players. They are All-Star players, they know
how to win, and they are going to be rested when they come back."
The Jazz never trailed, opening a 22-17 lead after one quarter. They
held a 24-22 lead early in the second quarter before a 10-0 spurt.
Howard Eisley drained a three-pointer, Anderson scored five
consecutive points and Antoine Carr capped the run with a short jumper
for a 34-22 lead with 7:19 left before halftime.
Leading 36-28, the Jazz took their biggest lead of the half with an 11-3
surge. Stockton scored six points in the burst, which gave Utah a 47-31
cushion with 2:04 to play.
Houston closed the quarter on a 16-4 run keyed by six points from
Othella Harrington to draw within 51-40. Harrington, who started at
forward and played 38 minutes, finished with 14 points and 13
rebounds.
The Jazz wasted no time in putting away the game by starting the third
quarter on a 24-7 spurt. Malone had 10 points in the burst and
Stockton added four, capping the run with a layup as the Jazz took their
biggest lead of the game, 75-47, with 4:58 left.
"You really can't judge from this game," Malone said. "It's the type of
game you just have to go out and play. Unfortunately, guys get hurt and
the shoe could be on the other foot, but you have to go out and play
hard."
Malone connected on 9-of-14 shots from the floor for the Jazz, who
shot a healthy 59 percent (48-of-81) from the floor while limiting
Houston to only 38 percent (28-of-73) from the field.
"Basically, we got overpowered by a very good team," Houston coach
Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We had some good looks at the basket in the
first half, but couldn't put it in the hole. Then we had a terrible third
quarter and couldn't get back in the game."
