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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Utah Jazz can flail and fume, but they
just can't push the Portland Trail Blazers around anymore.
Arvydas Sabonis and Rasheed Wallace each scored 17 points as the
Portland Trail Blazers withstood a tumultuous fourth quarter to
beat the Utah Jazz 101-92 Sunday for their 11th straight win.
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Ostertag, Smith fined
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Greg Ostertag of the Utah Jazz and Steve Smith of the Portland Trail Blazers have been fined by the NBA for their actions during Sunday's game at the Rose Garden in Portland.
Ostertag was fined $7,500 for his involvement in an altercation with Smith and for kicking the ball into the stands after his ejection from the game after receiving his second technical foul. Smith was fined $3,000 for his part in the altercation.
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"You know what's going to happen with Utah: There's going to be
a lot of pushing and shoving, a lot of flopping," Portland's
Detlef Schrempf said. "We let them get back a little closer than
we wanted, but we got the W."
Steve Smith added 16 points and Damon Stoudamire had 15 for the
Blazers, who have won 17 of 18 overall and 16 straight at home.
As the final seconds ticked off, the sellout crowd chanted
"Beat L.A.!" The Blazers play host to the Los Angeles Lakers on
Tuesday in a showdown between the teams with the league's best
records.
"This was the perfect way for us to get focused on the Laker
game," Stoudamire said. "This should be a carryover to the
Tuesday night game. We're just going to let it all ride on
Tuesday."
Counting last year's playoff series win, the Blazers have beaten
the Jazz nine out of the last 10 times at the Rose Garden. Portland
leads the season series 2-1, and the play one more time -- April 10
at Utah, where the Blazers have lost 12 of their last 13.
Karl Malone and Bryon Russell scored 23 points each to lead
Utah. But it was Malone's physical play in the fourth quarter that
stirred up the Blazers and started the Jazz unraveling.
Utah closed to 82-79 on a dunk by Greg Ostertag with 7:58 to go,
but after a turnover Malone got tangled up with Portland's Bonzi
Wells and threw him to the floor. Wells jumped up and bumped Malone
in the chest, and the two were quickly separated.
|  | | Portland's Steve Smith, puts his right foot into his defensive effort against Utah's Bryon Russell. |
"That was a tryout for the WWF, that takedown," Blazers coach
Mike Dunleavy said of Malone's move.
Both were assessed a technical foul, and the Blazers got a
jumper from Greg Anthony and a putback by Wallace to take an 86-79
lead with 5:31 left.
A short time later, Ostertag was ejected after a tussle with
Smith. Ostertag thought he was fouled by Smith, and the two glared
at each other.
They exchanged words, then Ostertag grabbed onto Smith.
Teammates, coaches and officials immediately jumped in, and the two
were separated after Smith had his hands around Ostertag's face and
neck.
"We just hooked up. He didn't want to let it go," Smith said.
"He gave me a stare, so I started laughing."
Ostertag had gotten a technical in the second quarter for
angrily bouncing the ball, and his second earned him an automatic
ejection.
"We need Greg. We also need him intense," Utah's John Stockton
said. "It's a fine line. Be intense, but be in control of your
emotions."
Smith's jumper with four minutes left made it a 10-point lead,
but he fell backwards over Stockton, and was helped off the court
with a slightly sprained left foot.
The rough play in the fourth quarter was absent for much of the
game, as the teams battled from the perimeter. Portland, leading
the NBA in field goal shooting at 47 percent, shot nearly 49
percent and made 8-of-15 from 3-point range.
The Jazz shot 44 percent and 7-of-18 from long range, but had a
huge disadvantage at the free-throw line. Portland was 27-of-33,
while Utah made 15-of-23.
The Blazers also outrebounded Utah 41-29, and on one sequence in
the first quarter, Wallace got three offensive boards before
getting his shot to fall.
"They were ignited when we got here. They were alive," Utah
coach Jerry Sloan said. "They kicked our butts right from the
beginning. They let us know how they were going to play, and they
had that all day long."
Utah shot just 32 percent in the second quarter and trailed
52-42 at halftime. Smith's 3-pointer with 1:01 left made it 50-40,
and the Jazz got just one basket in the last 3{ minutes, a layup by
Malone.
The Blazers led by as many as 14 in the third, but a 3-pointer
by Russell cut the lead to 75-70 with 35 seconds left. Scottie
Pippen's 3 with 26.1 to go put Portland ahead by eight heading into
the fourth.
Game notes
Russell, who had a miserable 1-for-16, four-point
performance in Utah's last game at Portland on Jan. 27, was
8-of-14. ... Brian Grant, visibly slower than last season because
of summer knee surgery, made his second straight start and played
adequate defense on Malone, but he left with 5:32 to go in the
third because of a sore left foot. The team said he has plantar
fasciaitis, the same injury that sidelined Phoenix's Penny Hardaway
for 21 games. Grant is day-to-day. ... Jeff Hornacek was 2-of-2 on
free throws, improving him to 131-of-136 for the season, a
percentage of .963. He is chasing Calvin Murphy's record of .958,
set in 1980-81.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Utah Clubhouse
Portland Clubhouse
Utah's Ostertag ejected against Blazers
RECAPS
Toronto 103
Phoenix 102
Milwaukee 102
Orlando 95
New York 89
Philadelphia 88
Portland 101
Utah 92
LA Lakers 101
Houston 85
Minnesota 102
San Antonio 98
Detroit 93
Chicago 90
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Bonzi Wells believes there is "bad blood" between the Blazers and Jazz.
wav: 54 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jerry Sloan says Portland was fired up from the start.
wav: 80 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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