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Wednesday, Dec. 15 7:00pm ET
Hornacek records 15,000th point | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
BOSTON (AP) -- Jeff Hornacek has made quite a career for himself. The Utah guard recorded his 15,000th point on Wednesday night, scoring 15 to help the Jazz beat Boston 96-86 for their seventh consecutive victory and their 14th straight over the Celtics. "We're always looking for athletes in this business and he destroys all that," coach Jerry Sloan said. "Talk about a guy who knows how to play basketball and he's it. If you're a young guy and you want to be a good basketball player, I'd follow him around every minute." Karl Malone scored 27 points for Utah, which overcame season-highs of 37 points and 12 rebounds by Antoine Walker. Boston lost its third straight game since Paul Pierce sprained his ankle and has not beaten Utah since Dec. 20, 1991 -- before Larry Bird retired. Hornacek, a 6-foot-4 guard from Iowa State who was the 46th player taken in the 1986 draft, has 15,011 points -- the 84th player in NBA history to break the milestone. Two of those are now on his team: Malone and John Stockton, who are both considered among the leagues top 50 players. "You set your goals for this team to win," said Hornacek, who played six years with Phoenix and 1+ with Philadelphia before coming to Utah. "But when you cross those milestones, it feels good." Greg Ostertag had 11 rebounds and Howard Eisley scored 15 points off the bench for the Jazz. Adrian Griffin scored 12 points with eight rebounds for Boston, which had won three consecutive home games before Wednesday's loss. "Our guys did the best they could," Celtics coach Rick Pitino said, noting that in addition to Pierce the team is missing Danny Fortson and Vitaly Potapenko. "It's going to be a tough stretch for us, but I think we'll be better off in the long run -- if we can stay in the hunt." Utah used a 9-1 run to take a 56-44 lead midway through the third quarter, but the Celtics cut the lead to four points, 67-63, by scoring the last six points of the third. Boston had a chance to cut it to three with Griffin at the line trying to complete a 3-point play. But Griffin missed the free throw and the Jazz scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter on their way to a 12-2 run that made it 79-65. "We did some bonehead things," Malone said. "But our second unit came through." The Celtics shot just 40 percent from the field, making 31 of 77 shots in the game. Utah made half of its 68 shots. Walker hit a long 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to give Boston a 21-17 lead. The Celtics led 25-21 early in the second quarter before Utah mounted a 6-0 run; the Jazz scored five consecutive points to make it 40-33 just before the half.
Game notes | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Utah Clubhouse Boston Clubhouse RECAPS Utah 96 Boston 86
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