SPURS REPORT <<UTAH EVENS SERIES>>
mode...@news.delphi.com
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S P U R S P L A Y O F F R E P O R T
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Compiled and Edited by
Dusty (in L.A.)
San Antonio went without a field goal in 25 attempts over a 16-minute span
of the second and third quarters Saturday, as Utah
evened their playoff series at 1-1 with a 96-84 victory.
The Spurs scored just 25 points in the two middle periods, making just
5 of
34 shots.
Jay Humphries scored 12 of his 25 points as Utah took control in the second
quarter, outscoring the Spurs 30-9 for a 50-33 lead. The Jazz expanded the
margin to 75-49 after three quarters as San Antonio continued to misfire.
The Spurs had a franchise record-low for points in a playoff game and
set a
host of other NBA and club records with their poor offensive performance.
Karl Malone, despite 7-for-25 shooting from the field, had 23 points
and 14
rebounds for the Jazz. John Stockton, who scored only three points in the
series
opener, scored 17 points before leaving the game with a thigh injury.
The best-of-5 series moves to Utah for Tuesday's Game 3. The Spurs won
Thursday's series opener 106-89.
The Spurs set an NBA playoff record for fewest points in a second
quarter and a franchise playoff record for fewest points in any quarter.
San Antonio,
shooting just 2-for-16 from the field, also set team playoff records for
fewest
field goals in a quarter and lowest field-goal percentage in a quarter.
They also set Spurs playoff records for fewest field goals made in a game
(25) and lowest field-goal percentage in a game (35 percent).
The raucous second period ended with the ejection of Utah's Tom
Chambers, who was nailed for a second technical.
The Spurs continued their dismal play in the third, when the Jazz broke
open
a 69-39 advantage with 3:51 remaining.
San Antonio made only three field goals in that period, the first
coming from Dennis Rodman with 6:28 remaining, after the Spurs had missed
25 consecutive shots.
Rodman, the league's leading rebounder who has said he doesn't like to
shoot, had 14 points and 17 rebounds before he was ejected with 3:16
remaining after flinging a few choice words at the Utah bench.
With one blowout victory apiece in Texas, the Utah Jazz and San Antonio
Spurs expect their playoff games to be closer when the series continues
Tuesday.
Come Tuesday night, one can expect an all out WAR in Utah.
Utah's Tom Chambers and San Antonio's Dennis Rodman were ejected from
Saturday's game after separate physical clashes, and several others were
slapped with technical fouls. Both coaches also received technicals.
"I expected to be kicked out after the first technical in the second
quarter," Rodman said defiantly. "I guess they wanted me around in the fourth
quarter (when he was ejected)."
Chambers, who was tossed just before halftime, watched the rest of the game
from the Jazz locker room, where he said he talked trash to the television
set. The Jazz won Saturday's game 96-84 to tie the best-of-5 Western
Conference
series at 1-1. The Spurs had won Thursday's series opener 106-89. The
series now moves to Utah for Tuesday's Game 3.
John Stockton and David Robinson suffered injuries in the second game.
Stockton bruised his thigh, and Robinson twisted his right knee.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan accused Rodman of intentionally trying to "take out"
Stockton just before Rodman was ejected.
"He as much as said so when he came off the floor ... I guess that's what
works," Sloan said, adding, "I think the league has always done what they
think
is fair."
Spurs coach John Lucas said Stockton and the Utah bench were taunting
Rodman, and Rodman said something back when he got ejected with his second
technical foul.
"We're sort of in a Catch-22. Whatever happens, Dennis is immediately
blamed
for it," Lucas said.
Rodman had a personal meeting with NBA commissioner David Stern earlier
this
year to discuss his controversial behavior. Since then, Rodman has
occasionally
drawn technicals but for the most part has contained his outbursts.
In Thursday's game, Rodman swung his arms at Lucas as the coach benched him
after a scuffle with a Jazz player. Lucas said Rodman didn't know it was
him he
was swinging his arms at. Before Saturday's game, Utah's Karl Malone
warned his team would be more aggressive, just like he said the Spurs were
Thursday. Malone was pleased with his team's change in attitude.
"We played the game the way we need to play it. We played hard and
physical,
but we played clean. The referees let you do more in the playoffs," Malone
said. Malone also took a verbal jab at Rodman after the game, saying,
"He's got to hit me harder than that. My daughter hits harder than that."
Malone attributed the Jazz's Saturday performance to better passing.
"The secret to the victory was as a team we made the extra pass. We
need that extra pass and every time we did it we got results," he said.
Sloan said his team did a better job with its half-court game, even though
the Jazz shot only 42 percent.
The Jazz, who only had Malone score in double figures in the first
game, saw
four players score in double figures in Game 2, including reserve Jay
Humphries, who led his team with 25 points.
"I'm comfortable playing whatever role they want me to play and it really
doesn't matter," Humphries said. "I just wanted to go out and make something
happen when I had a chance."
Coach Lucas insists that Utah did not beat the Spurs... but that the
Spurs beat themselves by going cold. At one point, the Spurs were down by
as many as thirty points before making a comeback to get within a dozen.
UTAH (96)
Corbin 0-5 0-0 0, Malone 7-25 9-14 23, Spencer 6-9 3-3 15, Stockton
8-16 1-1
17, Hornacek 0-4 5-7 5, Humphries 11-16 0-1 25, Chambers 2-6 0-0 4, Benoit 2-5
0-0 4, Howard 0-2 1-2 1, Crotty 0-0 0-0 0, Russell 1-1 0-0 2, Bond 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 37-89 19-28 96.
SAN ANTONIO (84)
Ellis 1-7 1-2 3, Rodman 7-12 0-3 14, Robinson 2-14 8-10 12, Del Negro
2-5 2-3
7, Anderson 1-4 0-0 2, Cummings 1-5 6-6 8, Carr 0-0 0-0 0, Knight 4-8 8-8 16,
Reid 0-2 2-2 2, Daniels 5-8 0-0 13, Floyd 1-3 1-2 3, Haley 1-3 2-2 4. Totals
25-71 30-38 84
Utah 20 30 25 21--96
San Antonio 24 9 16 35--84
3-Point goals--Utah 3-7 (Humphries 3-5, Corbin 0-1, Chambers 0-1), San
Antonio 4-9 (Daniels 3-4, Del Negro 1-1, Ellis 0-2, Rodman 0-2). Fouled
out--None. Rebounds--Utah 60 (Malone 14), San Antonio 55 (Rodman 17).
Assists--Utah 19 (Stockton 5), San Antonio 15 (Del Negro 5). Total fouls--Utah
24, San Antonio 21. Technicals--Rodman 2, Cummings, Malone, Chambers, Utah
coach Sloan, San Antonio coach Lucas, San Antonio illegal defense.
Ejections--Chambers, Rodman. A--20,640.
TUESDAY'S AME WILL BE ON TNT BEGINING AT
10:30 p.m. Eastern 7:30 p.m. Pacific.
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