Utah Jazz Coach Silent After Booting Morris From Bench

The day after Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan called on security personnel to remove Chris Morris from his bench and the arena, details of the altercation remained a mystery.

Morris, who was gone by the time the team reached the locker room following Utah’s 110-99 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night, had been yanked from the game early in the fourth quarter.

Sloan pulled Morris after he gave up seven points in three minutes to Knicks rookie John Wallace. Once Morris took a seat on the bench, Sloan got in his face. Apparently, an exchange followed and Sloan ordered Morris to the locker room.

“Get out. Get out of here,” Sloan screamed several times, but Morris didn’t budge. Sloan then called on two nearby security guards.

“Get him out of here,” Sloan shouted.

Morris left, accompanied by the guards.

Sloan declined to discuss the matter.

“I’m not making any comment on Chris Morris,” he said. “I haven’t seen Chris. We’ll talk about that later.”

Clippers keep Martin

The Los Angeles Clippers exercised their option on guard Darrick Martin for the 1997-98 season, one day after he had 17 points and eight assists in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Martin has averaged 13.9 points and 5.3 assists since becoming a starter in mid-December.

Clippers forward Rodney Rogers had his fractured nose set Wednesday, a day after breaking it in a collision with Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson.

Rogers’ nose was placed in a splint.

He will wear a removable, transparent protective mask during games.

Pistons roll; Collins ill

Lindsey Hunter scored 15 of his 21 points in the second quarter of Detroit’s victory over Golden State.

Terry Mills also had 21 for Detroit and Joe Dumars added 19. Grant Hill had 13 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Latrell Sprewell led the Warriors with 19 before injuring an ankle in the fourth quarter.

Detroit coach Doug Collins, suffering from stomach flu, only coached the first half, but that was more than enough. Alvin Gentry replaced him for the second half.

Highs …

Mitch Richmond made all seven of his 3-pointers and scored 38 points as Sacramento won for the first time in 18 tries at Boston and handed the Celtics their 11th consecutive defeat.

Olden Polynice had 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists for Sacramento, which swept the season series with the Celtics for the first time since 1949-50.

Patrick Ewing scored five of his 27 points in overtime and grabbed 14 rebounds as New York won at Portland despite the Knicks’ five-point third quarter and 15-point fourth quarter deficit.

Dennis Scott regained his long-range shooting touch and scored 26 points in Orlando’s fifth consecutive victory. He made eight consecutive shots during one stretch. The first six were 3-pointers.

Orlando remained unbeaten under interim coach Richie Adubato, improving to 5-0.

Forward Tom Gugliotta, with near-perfect 11-for-12 shooting from the field, scored 29 points for Minnesota. Gugliotta made his first 11 shots as the Timberwolves climbed above .500 for the fifth time in their history.

Kevin Johnson scored 12 of his season-high 36 points in the fourth quarter of Phoenix’s win.

Jason Kidd had 19 points and 13 assists for the Suns. Jerry Stackhouse had 28 points for Philadelphia.

And lows

Atlanta held Milwaukee to 25 second-half points, just one more than the NBA record low.