Stockton Assists Utah To 1-0 Lead

NBA playoffs

John Stockton had 23 assists, one shy of his NBA playoff record, and Utah came back from an eight-point deficit in the final quarter to defeat Portland 110-102 Thursday night in their playoff opener at Salt Lake City.

Karl Malone scored 33 points and Jeff Hornacek added 27, including a late 3-pointer that iced the victory. Utah won despite missing 19 foul shots - including 10 by Malone in 15 tries.

Hornacek’s 3-pointer, his fourth in as many attempts, came with 52.8 seconds remaining and gave the Jazz a 104-97 lead, capping a 37-21 run.

Stockton added 11 points. He and Magic Johnson share the record of 24 assists in a playoff game.

Portland (102) - Grant 2-5 0-4 4, C.Robinson 6-17 7-10 21, Sabonis 5-11 16-20 26, McKie 0-1 0-0 0, Strickland 8-16 9-11 27, Williams 3-4 0-0 6, Dudley 2-4 0-0 4, J.Robinson 1-5 0-0 3, R.Robinson 3-4 0-0 8, Wingfield 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 31-68 32-45 102.

Utah (110) - Benoit 3-5 2-2 9, Malone 14-21 5-15 33, Spencer 2-3 0-0 4, Hornacek 10-13 6-8 30, Stockton 2-4 7-8 11, Eisley 0-1 0-0 0, Ostertag 0-2 2-6 2, Keefe 0-1 0-0 0, Morris 0-4 0-0 0, Carr 3-7 3-4 9, Foster 0-0 0-0 0, Russell 4-5 4-5 12. Totals 38-66 29-48 110.

Portland 26 30 25 21 - 102 Utah 30 14 29 37 - 110

3-Point goals-Portland 8-20 (R.Robinson 2-3, Strickland 2-4, C.Robinson 2-6, Wingfield 1-1, J.Robinson 1-3, Grant 0-1, McKie 0-1, Williams 0-1), Utah 5-6 (Hornacek 4-4, Benoit 1-2). Fouled out-Carr. Rebounds-Portland 52 (Dudley 10), Utah 45 (Malone 9). Assists-Portland 20 (Strickland 12), Utah 31 (Stockton 23). Total fouls-Portland 31, Utah 29. A-19,614 (19,911).

Rockets 87, Lakers 83 Inglewood, Calif.

Two-time defending champion Houston opened defense of its title with a victory, holding Los Angeles scoreless for almost 8 minutes in the fourth quarter.

Hakeem Olajuwon scored 33, including six in the key stretch of the fourth quarter when the Lakers were scoreless.

The Lakers came back in the waning minutes to make it interesting, pulling to 86-83 with 3.5 seconds remaining before Clyde Drexler made a free throw for a four-point pad.

Houston (87) - Horry 0-8 0-0 0, Brown 1-4 0-0 2, Olajuwon 14-26 5-7 33, Drexler 7-18 6-8 21, Smith 3-6 1-1 7, Elie 3-5 0-0 7, Cassell 2-8 1-3 5, Bryant 5-7 2-2 12, Mack 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 35-84 15-23 87.

L.A. Lakers (83) - Campbell 3-8 1-4 7, Ceballos 9-20 2-2 22, Divac 3-10 0-2 6, Jones 7-12 0-1 19, Van Exel 1-11 3-4 5, Johnson 4-11 10-12 20, Lynch 2-3 0-0 4, Threatt 0-6 0-0 0, Roberts 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 29-83 16-25 83.

Houston 21 19 25 22 - 87 L.A. Lakers 22 17 27 17 - 83

3-Point goals-Houston 2-11 (Elie 1-2, Drexler 1-4, Cassell 0-1, Horry 0-2, Smith 0-2), Los Angeles 9-26 (Jones 5-8, Johnson 2-4, Ceballos 2-4, Lynch 0-1, Divac 0-2, Threatt 0-3, Van Exel 0-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Houston 51 (Olajuwon, Horry 8), Los Angeles 69 (Johnson 13). Assists-Houston 14 (Drexler, Smith 4), Los Angeles 20 (Van Exel 8). Total fouls-Houston 23, Los Angeles 22. Technicals-Los Angeles coach Harris, Houston illegal defense. A-17,505 (17,505).

Knicks 106, Cavaliers 83 Cleveland

New York ran off 20 consecutive points in the fourth quarter and made a team-record 17 3-pointers to beat Cleveland in the opener of their first-round playoff series.

John Starks had six 3-pointers, Hubert Davis had five and the Knicks shot 17 of 22 from behind the arc. The 17 3s were two away from the NBA playoff record of 19 set by Houston at Utah last April.

The visiting team has won 11 of the last 13 meetings in the New York-Cleveland series, including the regular season and playoffs.

New York (106) - Mason 4-12 2-2 10, Oakley 8-15 0-0 17, Ewing 9-15 4-6 23, Starks 7-12 1-2 21, Harper 3-10 4-4 12, Davis 5-6 0-0 15, Williams 0-1 2-2 2, Ward 2-3 0-0 6, Grandison 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-74 13-16 106.

Cleveland (83) - Mills 2-7 1-1 5, Ferry 5-12 0-0 11, Cage 4-6 1-1 9, Phills 5-12 0-1 11, Brandon 8-17 0-0 18, Hill 2-2 0-0 4, Majerle 8-13 3-3 23, Sura 0-0 0-0 0, Amaechi 0-1 0-0 0, Crotty 0-0 2-2 2, Lang 0-0 0-0 0, Marshall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 34-70 7-8 83.

New York 22 18 29 37 - 106 Cleveland 17 23 27 16 - 83

3-Point goals-New York 17-22 (Starks 6-9, Davis 5-6, Ward 2-2, Harper 2-3, Oakley 1-1, Ewing 1-1), Cleveland 8-21 (Majerle 4-7, Brandon 2-3, Phills 1-4, Ferry 1-5, Mills 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-New York 39 (Mason, Ewing, Starks 7), Cleveland 37 (Cage 8). Assists-New York 32 (Mason, Starks, Harper 7), Cleveland 22 (Brandon, Majerle 5). Total fouls-New York 15, Cleveland 14. Technicals- New York illegal defense. A-16,419 (20,562).

Hawks 92, Pacers 80 Indianapolis

Steve Smith scored 27 and Atlanta took advantage of Reggie Miller’s absence for a win over Indiana in the opening game of their playoff series.

Miller, who fractured his right eye socket late in the regular season, watched in frustration from the bench as the Pacers fell behind in the second quarter after a barrage of Atlanta 3-pointers.

Atlanta (92) - Augmon 2-4 0-0 4, Long 4-11 4-4 13, Laettner 6-14 2-3 14, Smith 10-15 3-4 27, Blaylock 4-11 2-4 12, Rooks 1-1 0-0 2, Henderson 3-5 0-0 6, Ehlo 4-10 0-0 12, Jordan 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 35-73 11-15 92.

Indiana (80) - McKey 5-8 4-5 15, D.Davis 1-5 2-4 4, Smits 8-14 3-4 19, Pierce 3-10 7-8 13, Jackson 3-10 3-4 11, A.Davis 4-6 2-2 10, Caldwell 1-1 0-0 2, Ferrell 1-2 0-0 2, Best 2-5 0-0 4, Workman 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 28-66 21-27 80.

Atlanta 21 28 19 24 - 92 Indiana 27 13 28 12 - 80

3-Point goals-Atlanta 11-23 (Smith 4-6, Ehlo 4-7, Blaylock 2-8, Long 1-2), Indiana 3-12 (Jackson 2-6, McKey 1-1, Pierce 0-1, Best 0-2, Johnson 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Atlanta 42 (Long 14), Indiana 44 (D.Davis 12). Assists-Atlanta 24 (Blaylock 9), Indiana 18 (Pierce 5). Total fouls-Atlanta 24, Indiana 21. A-16,438 (16,530). xxxx
MOST PLAYOFF ASSISTS The best single-game assist performances in NBA playoff history: 24 - Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers vs. Phoenix, May 15, 1984. 24 - John Stockton, Utah vs. L.A. Lakers, May 17, 1988. 23 - John Stockton, Utah vs. Portland, April 25, 1996. 23 - Magic Johnson, Lakers vs. Portland, 1985.