It’s Stockton To The Hoop For Jazz’s Game-Winner

Karl Malone swears the Utah Jazz aren’t a two-man team, but the Houston Rockets may beg to differ.

The Rockets’ first exhibit Thursday night would be John Stockton, whose driving layup with 2.4 seconds left gave Utah a 102-100 win and a 1-0 advantage over the defending NBA champion Rockets in their first-round playoff series at Salt Lake City.

The Rockets had knotted the score at 100-100 - the eighth time the scored was tied in the quarter - on a 16-foot jumper by guard Kenny Smith with 16.7 seconds to go.

Stockton had 28 points and 10 assists. And Malone, his longtime fellow AllStar, added 25, although he made just 8 of 19 shots. Both performances were barely enough to counter the one-man show put on by Hakeem Olajuwon, who made 20 of his 30 shots from all angles and had 45 points.

Stockton was his usual matter-of-fact self afterward.

“We just ran a pick and roll … and when that didn’t work, we got lucky,” he said of his winning scoop shot over a trio of Houston defenders.

Stockton said he expects more of the same on Saturday.

“They’re world champs, and I thought they were tremendous. Who knows how it would have worked out if it had gone another 10 seconds,” he said.

HOUSTON (100)

Horry 4-8 4-4 13, Chilcutt 4-5 3-3 12, Olajuwon 20-30 5-10 45, Drexler 3-8 0-0 7, Smith 5-8 2-2 14, Cassell 2-4 0-0 4, Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Elie 1-2 0-0 2, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Maxwell 1-7 1-1 3. Totals 40-72 15-20 100.

UTAH (102)

Benoit 2-7 0-0 5, Malone 8-19 9-14 25, Donaldson 1-1 0-0 2, Stockton 12-19 2-2 28, Hornacek 2-10 1-2 5, Crotty 0-0 1-2 1, Carr 3-5 4-4 10, Chambers 4-7 2-5 10, Edwards 2-3 0-0 5, Keefe 5-6 1-2 11, Watson 0-0 0-0 0.Totals 39-77 20-31 102.

Houston 22 28 23 27 - 100

Utah 19 29 22 32 - 102

3-Point goals-Houston 5-13 (Smith 2-3, Drexler 1-1, Chilcutt 1-2, Horry 1-3, Cassell 0-1, Elie 0-1, Maxwell 0-2), Utah 4-12 (Stockton 2-5, Edwards 1-1, Benoit 1-2, Malone 0-1, Hornacek 0-3). Fouled out-Chambers. Rebounds-Houston 34 (Chilcutt 9), Utah 52 (Malone 14). Assists-Houston 25 (Olajuwon 6), Utah 25 (Stockton 10). Total fouls-Houston 26, Utah 20. Technicals-Malone, Stockton, Houston illegal defense. A-19,911 (19,911).

Knicks 103, Cavaliers 79

New York

New York, after losing the seventh game of the NBA Finals last year, started the 1995 playoffs looking like a team determined to earn another chance at a championship.

The Knicks never trailed in their playoff opener against Cleveland, and their starters dominated the Cavaliers’ starters, outscoring them 77-29.

CLEVELAND (79)

Hill 2-10 3-6 7, Mills 2-3 0-0 6, J.Williams 2-10 0-0 4, Phills 3-8 0-0 6, Price 1-6 4-4 6, Colter 1-3 1-2 3, Ferry 7-10 2-2 20, Campbell 4-7 5-6 13, Cage 2-7 0-0 4, Dreiling 0-2 0-0 0, Roberts 3-4 0-2 6, Battle 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 29-73 15-22 79.

NEW YORK (103)

Oakley 9-12 0-1 19, Smith 7-12 0-1 14, Ewing 10-16 1-2 21, Harper 7-8 1-2 16, Starks 2-5 2-2 7, Anthony 1-5 0-1 2, Mason 2-2 0-0 4, Davis 2-4 1-1 6, Bonner 3-3 0-0 6, H.Williams 1-2 2-2 4, M.Williams 2-2 0-0 4, Christie 0-2 0-0 0.Totals 46-73 7-12 103.

Cleveland 24 14 18 23 - 79

New York 27 20 29 27 - 103

3-Point goals-Cleveland 6-11 (Ferry 4-4, Mills 2-2, J.Williams 0-1, Price 0-1, Colter 0-1, Cage 0-1, Battle 0-1), New York 4-12 (Harper 1-1, Oakley 1-1, Starks 1-3, Davis 1-3, Ewing 0-1, Anthony 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Cleveland 37 (Hill 8), New York 46 (Oakley 11). Assists-Cleveland 15 (Price 4), New York 30 (Starks 7). Total fouls-Cleveland 20, New York 26. Technicals-Ewing, New York illegal defense. A-19,763 (19,763).

Pacers 90, Hawks 82

Indianapolis

The Hawks lost their offense at the right time for Indiana.

Indiana trailed 60-50 with 8:30 remaining in the third quarter, but the Hawks went more than 6 minutes without scoring and the Pacers went on to win.

“We went a little too much 1-on-1,” Atlanta coach Lenny Wilkens said of the dry spell when the Pacers outscored his team 16-2. “We didn’t execute offensively. That means, when you don’t execute offensively, it puts the pressure on your defense.”

The Hawks were 11 for 34 from the field in the second half and had 11 turnovers over the final two quarters when they scored only 35 points.

ATLANTA (82)

Corbin 5-9 2-2 13, Long 5-11 8-10 18, Lang 5-12 2-2 12, Blaylock 6-19 3-5 17, Smith 6-13 1-1 17, Ehlo 1-8 0-0 3, Augmon 0-0 0-0 0, Whatley 0-1 0-0 0, Anderson 0-2 0-0 0, Norman 1-2 0-2 2. Totals 29-77 16-22 82.

INDIANA (90)

D.Davis 3-6 2-4 8, McKey 8-11 5-6 21, Smits 5-15 1-1 11, Jackson 4-6 1-2 10, Miller 7-17 8-10 24, A.Davis 3-5 0-0 6, Mitchell 1-3 0-0 2, Scott 3-8 0-0 6, Workman 0-2 2-2 2, Ferrell 0-2 0-2 0, Fleming 0-1 0-0 0. Total 34-76 19-27 90.

Atlanta 24 23 20 15 - 82

Indiana 31 13 26 20 - 90

3-Point goals-Atlanta 8-22 (Smith 4-8, Blaylock 2-7, Corbin 1-3, Ehlo 1-3, Long 0-1), Indiana 3-15 (Miller 2-10, Jackson 1-1, McKey 0-1, Scott 0-1, Workman 0-1, Fleming 0-1). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-Atlanta 54 (Long 11), Indiana 50 (McKey 9). Assists-Atlanta 15 (Blaylock 9), Indiana 23 (Jackson 9). Total fouls-Atlanta 22, Indiana 23. Technicals-Atlanta illegal defenses 3, Indiana illegal defenses 2. A-16,445 (16,530).