Utah showed no mercy on injury-riddled Houston as Karl Malone scored 24 points and coach Jerry Sloan got his 600th NBA victory in the Jazz’s 111-84 romp over the host Rockets Saturday night.
The Jazz has won six straight and 10 of their last 12.
“In this business, the game must go on and you’ve got to go out and play,” Malone said. “It’s unfortunate that guys get hurt. . . . If the shoe was on the opposite foot, it would be the same thing.”
Houston, which lost for the eighth time in 11 games, played without injured stars Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon. The Rockets also were without starting point guard Matt Maloney, who has a bad elbow and didn’t dress for the first time in his career.
“They have three great players sitting down,” Sloan said. “It’s a tremendous loss. You don’t replace those guys. They’re All-Star players who know how to win. The guys who take their place have to learn how to win.”
Sloan, who said he was not aware of his milestone victory, improved his career record to 600-370. His victory total includes 506 with the Jazz and the rest with the Bulls in 1979-1982.
Raptors 102, Cavaliers 93: Damon Stoudamire scored 34 points as visiting Toronto, the NBA’s second-worst team, beat Cleveland, which played sluggishly two nights after a demoralizing loss to Seattle.
Lloyd Daniels, the New York playground star getting another chance in the NBA, came off the bench for the Raptors to score 21–including two free throws off the backboard.
Timberwolves 108, Nets 101: Tom Gugliotta scored 24 points, including six in the final 4 minutes, for visiting Minnesota. Rookie Keith Van Horn and Kerry Kittles each scored 22 points for the Nets, who had their four-game home winning streak snapped.
Spurs 109, Kings 67: Tim Duncan scored 28 points, David Robinson added 24 and host San Antonio rebounded from a 21-point loss in Phoenix the night before that ended a five-game winning streak.
Pacers 84, Mavericks 79: Reggie Miller’s three-pointer with 32.5 seconds left gave Indiana the lead for good as the visiting Pacers rallied from a 19-point third-quarter deficit.
Magic 90, Celtics 82: Rony Seikaly had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and host Orlando outscored Boston 29-5 from the foul line.
Bucks 95, Trail Blazers 90: Ray Allen scored 23 points and Armon Gilliam had four of his 21 in overtime as host Milwaukee rallied in the final 2:30 of regulation to force the extra session.
