Stockton Makes Triumphant Return

Everyone knew John Stockton was hungry. Not everyone was sure he was ready.

But eight weeks to the day after having surgery on his left knee, the All-Star guard returned to the Utah Jazz lineup Monday night. Stockton scored 10 points, including eight in the first 5:37, and came off the bench late to spark the Jazz to a 106-97 win over the Indiana Pacers.

Stockton received a deafening standing ovation from the Delta Center crowd before the game. Sporting a light brace on his left knee, he converted a three-point play on Utah’s first possession.

Stockton also showed a feisty side in an altercation with the Pacers’ Dale Davis midway through the third quarter. The two scuffled after Stockton was knocked to the ground while trying to set a pick on Davis.

In the game’s final minutes, Stockton ran the show as the Jazz controlled the ball for 79 straight seconds with two offensive rebounds and a flagrant foul on Davis. Stockton finished with seven assists.

Although he played just 20 minutes, his presence boosted the Jazz after the Pacers tied the game midway through the fourth quarter.

“We looked to him, and he got us through,” said guard Shandon Anderson, who scored 10 fourth-quarter points.

His return from an operation to remove loose cartilage came faster than expected. Coach Jerry Sloan said Stockton’s rehabilitation, which was to take eight to 12 weeks, was essentially complete.

“He’s ready to get some game action,” Sloan said before the game. “He’s at a point where he can help this team on the floor again.”

Stockton had missed only four games in 13 seasons before his knee operation. The injury ended his streak of 609 consecutive regular-season games.

Bulls’ Jackson pops off

Since Jeff Van Gundy became coach of the New York Knicks last year, he and Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson have been trading insults and exchanging radically different opinions.

On Monday, the day before their teams’ first meeting this season, Jackson finally agreed with Van Gundy.

“He deserves the blame,” said Jackson, referring to Van Gundy’s comments Sunday after the Knicks’ 93-78 loss at Philadelphia. “He should take that blame, no doubt about it.”

Van Gundy told reporters after the game he was “doing as bad a job as a coach could possibly do.”

“We are constantly inconsistent, and the blame is right here. I’m disgusted with myself,” he said.

Jackson was asked if Van Gundy really was to blame.

“Nah,” Jackson said, “I think it’s just self-deprecating to help the team out.”

Van Gundy - who mocks Jackson’s interest in American Indian culture and the Bulls’ triangle offense by calling the Chicago coach “Big Chief Triangle” - was furious that Jackson expressed interest in the New York job just after Van Gundy got it in March 1996.

Van Gundy has said the Bulls win not because of Jackson’s coaching but because of Michael Jordan. And the Knicks coach has admitted to being “obsessed” with Jackson and the Bulls, who have beaten New York in the playoffs on the way to four of their five NBA titles.

OK, so what does Jackson think about Van Gundy?

“I never think about him,” Jackson said.

Sprewell will speak today

Latrell Sprewell, fired by Golden State and banned from the NBA for a year, plans to break his silence today about his attack on coach P.J. Carlesimo.

A spokeswoman for Sprewell’s agent, Arn Tellem, said Sprewell will be joined by Tellem and NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter at the 2 p.m. PST news conference.

Around the league

Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning may return to the team’s active roster this week after recovering from knee surgery, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale reported… . Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson might require arthroscopic surgery on his chronically sore right knee, the team doctor said. Johnson has missed the team’s last four games due to tendinitis in the knee… . Orlando Magics guard Penny Hardaway, troubled by tendinitis in his left knee, was placed on the injured list.