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Monday, Jan. 29 9:00pm ET
Malone, Jazz outrun younger Nuggets

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

DENVER (AP) -- Although a step slower than he was in his prime, Karl Malone still has some juice left in those 37-year-old legs.

Playing against up-tempo Denver, Malone scored 30 points -- including eight on the fast break -- as the Utah Jazz outran, outshot and outplayed the Nuggets in a 97-91 victory Monday night.

Karl Malone
Karl Malone, who led the Jazz with 30 points, isn't happy after getting called for a technical foul in the first half.

"They kicked our butt in transition," Denver point guard Nick Van Exel said. "Old man Karl Malone beat us up and down the court. He was out there like he was 20 years old. We can't beat that team if they score more fast-break points than we do."

The Jazz, who ended Denver's nine-game home winning streak, executed its half-court game with efficiency and outscored the Nuggets 23-9 in transition.

"They are a running team. They like to make teams play their style," Malone said. "At times, we ran when we had the opportunity. When we didn't, we set up in the half-court offense."

Bryon Russell and Donyell Marshall each scored 13 points for Utah, and John Stockton had 11 assists to help the Jazz win an important Midwest Division game. The Nuggets trail first-place Utah by three games in the bunched-up West.

"I don't know if this overstated the importance of the win. We just wanted to get back to our winning ways," Malone said. "We have been up and down, and they had been playing really well."

Van Exel, playing on a ruptured tendon in his right foot, led Denver with 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Antonio McDyess had 18 points and 13 rebounds for his 33rd double-double of the season.

The Nuggets, who hadn't lost at home since Dec. 28, fell behind less than three minutes into the game and could never recover during a poor shooting night. Denver entered the game eighth in the league in 3-point percentage (36.5) but went 6-for-29 from long range.

"You are going to have nights like that," Nuggets coach Dan Issel said. "Nobody misses a shot intentionally. You are going to have nights when the ball doesn't go in the basket, and it is hard not to let that affect the rest of your game."

The game had none of the suspense or intrigue of last Thursday's Jazz-Nuggets game when Stockton hit two deciding technical foul shots with 1.3 seconds left after Denver called a timeout when it had none remaining.

The Jazz, who have won eight of 10, never allowed the Nuggets to score more than six straight points and led by 13 heading to the fourth quarter.

Utah pushed the lead to 15 with 4:30 left before Denver made a modest comeback. Van Exel scored nine points in less than two minutes, and the Nuggets got as close as four after George McCloud converted three free throws with four seconds remaining.

Marshall iced it with two free throws two seconds later.

"They definitely knew we were going to want to come out and show that last game we felt we got robbed," McCloud said. "In our mind, we were going to come out and really try to win this game. They fought power with power."

Utah, playing its first road game since Jan. 6, made nine of its first 11 shots and used a 15-0 run to take control of the game early. Denver was able to recover somewhat in the second quarter and trailed 47-36 at halftime.

Game notes
Denver, 21-6 at home, opens a six-game road trip Wednesday at Milwaukee. ... Nuggets C Raef LaFrentz missed his second straight game with a sprained right ankle. ... The Nuggets signed G Anthony Goldwire to a 10-day contract, placed G Calbert Cheaney on the injured list and waived C Garth Joseph. ... Malone needs three points for 32,000 in his career. ... The Jazz had lost four straight in Denver.
ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Utah Clubhouse

Denver Clubhouse

Foot injury can't keep Nuggets' Van Exel out of lineup


RECAPS
Boston 99
Detroit 87

Washington 95
Cleveland 89

Phoenix 95
Atlanta 82

Minnesota 99
Milwaukee 96

Utah 97
Denver 91

Vancouver 97
New Jersey 86

Charlotte 93
Golden State 85

San Antonio 96
LA Clippers 67

FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT

Karl Malone Official Site

Bryon Russell Official Site


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