Mvp Writes New Headline As Utah Wins

Karl Malone awoke Tuesday to a headline in the local paper screaming: “Hey Karl, Isn’t It Time To Deliver?”

It was.

“When someone takes a stab at you on the front page of the paper, it kind of upsets you,” Malone said. “I am human, contrary to what you guys think.”

Malone wasn’t superhuman Tuesday night, but he had his best all-around performance of the series as the Jazz moved within one game of finally reaching the NBA Finals by beating the Houston Rockets 96-91.

Malone shot 11 for 22 from the field, including 7 for 11 in the second half, grabbed 14 rebounds, shot 7 for 8 on free throws and had four assists.

He also shut down Charles Barkley defensively, and several of Malone’s shots were rally-killers in the second half when the Rockets refused to go down easily despite falling behind for good in the second quarter.

All in all, it was a strong enough performance to possibly put to rest the criticism Malone has received despite scoring 21, 24, 21 and 22 points in the first four games.

“I read about Karl today, but Karl Malone is not the only reason the Jazz won 64 games. They’ve got some other good players, and they played well tonight,” Barkley said. “Unfortunately, he’s the man. And he doesn’t get all the credit, but he takes all the blame.”

Malone, who averaged 27.4 points on 55 percent shooting in the regular season, but 22 points on 43 percent this series, locked up the victory on two free throws with 13 seconds left, giving Utah a 96-89 lead.

“This one right here was so-so as far as I’m concerned,” Malone said. “I can do better.”

It was the 22nd straight home victory for the Jazz, who haven’t lost at the Delta Center since Feb. 23.

They will look to wrap up the series Thursday night in Houston, but they’ll have to become the first team to win a road game in this series.

Six Utah players scored in double figures. John Stockton had another strong game with 17 points, Bryon Russell scored 13, Jeff Hornacek 11 and reserves Howard Eisley and Antoine Carr 10 each.

Hakeem Olajuwon scored 33 points for Houston. Clyde Drexler had 15 and Matt Maloney 14.

Barkley, who unsuccessfully tried to draw Malone into a trash-talking duel in the first half, finished with just 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting. And he did almost nothing after making two 3-pointers in the first 3-1/2 minutes of the game.

“I thought it was the best game we played in the series,” Barkley said. “We got our butts kicked the first two times we played here, and in this game we had a chance to win. That will be encouraging for me on Sunday (a possible Game 7).”

Part of the reason for Barkley’s poor showing was Malone, who held his ground against Barkley in oneon-one isolations better than he did last weekend when the Rockets won two straight games to tie the series.

Malone also found the range on his turnaround jumper, which has become his bread-and-butter shot.

“If he keeps making that fadeaway jumper, I’ll shake his hand after the series and say good luck against the Bulls,” Barkley said.

Utah took the lead for good on a jumper by Stockton with 6:36 left in the second quarter, making it 37-36. The lead fluctuated between one and nine points the rest of the way, and Houston still had a chance to catch up late in the fourth quarter.

Barkley made the second of two foul shots with 2:27 left to pull the Rockets to 92-87, but Hornacek answered with an high-arching lay-up. over the outstretched arm of Olajuwon.

Barkley then blocked Malone’s jumper and forced a jump ball, but Malone - with the crowd chanting “M-V-P, M-V-P” for the first time all night - won the jump ball.

Jazz 96, Rockets 91

Houston (91) - Elie 1-6 4-5 6, Barkley 3-6 2-4 10, Olajuwon 11-18 11-13 33, Drexler 5-15 5-6 15, Maloney 5-9 0-0 14, Threatt 3-5 2-2 9, Johnson 2-7 0-1 4, Willis 0-1 0-0 0, Harrington 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-67 24-31 91.

Utah (96) - Russell 4-11 4-4 13, Malone 11-22 7-8 29, Ostertag 2-4 0-2 4, Hornacek 3-9 5-5 11, Stockton 6-7 4-4 17, Eisley 3-6 3-3 10, Foster 1-2 0-0 2, Carr 4-5 2-2 10, Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Morris 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-69 25-28 96.

Houston 27 17 20 27 - 91

Utah 24 23 24 25 - 96

3-Point goals-Houston 7-24, (Maloney 4-6, Barkley 2-3, Threatt 1-2, Johnson 0-4, Elie 0-4, Drexler 0-5), Utah 3-13, (Stockton 1-1, Eisley 1-2, Russell 1-7, Morris 0-1, Hornacek 0-2). Fouled out-Carr. Rebounds-Houston 41 (Olajuwon 10), Utah 41 (Malone 14). Assists-Houston 16 (Barkley 5), Utah 17 (Stockton 6). Total fouls-Houston 24, Utah 23. Technicals- Olajuwon, Carr, Utah coach Sloan. A-19,911 (19,911).