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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Atlanta coach Lon Kruger has enjoyed
watching Utah's Karl Malone and John Stockton on television.
Coaching against the pair was less pleasant.
|  | | Karl Malone gets fouled by Atlanta's Hanno Mottola, left, on his way to the basket. |
Malone had 21 points and eight rebounds and Stockton added 14
points and 10 assists as the Jazz beat the Hawks 99-82 Monday
night.
"It wasn't fun at all to try a find a way to beat those guys,"
Kruger said. "They are experienced and they're very, very good at
what they do."
Malone and Stockton credited the Jazz's third-quarter defense as
the key to the victory.
"It's the same old story for us -- when we play defense and
create opportunities like we did in the third quarter, we can be
very good," said Stockton, who got a steal and a layup midway
through the quarter to give Utah a 68-51 lead.
Malone added: "We really concentrated on defense after the half
and that led to easy baskets to give us some breathing room."
Utah won for the fifth time in six games and beat Atlanta for
the seventh straight time at the Delta Center.
Bryon Russell came off the bench to score 13 points and Donyell
Marshall, Olden Polynice and Danny Manning each had 10 for the
Jazz, who received double-figure scoring from six players.
Jason Terry scored 22 points for the Hawks, who lost their
fourth straight and finished a six-game road trip with a 2-4
record.
Alan Henderson had 18 points and a career-high six steals, and
Nazr Mohammed scored a career-high 16 points.
Utah has held its opponents to less than 100 points in 17
straight games and has won 18 of its last 22.
"Defense is the key. If you can get some steals and get out on
the fast break, you're gonna get a lot of layups, and I thought we
did a good job of getting our hands on their passes," said John
Starks, who had four of Utah's 14 steals.
The Jazz stretched their lead to 77-58 on Starks' 3-pointer with
1:51 left in the third quarter.
Chris Crawford's basket at the start of the fourth quarter
capped eight straight points by the Hawks, who closed within 77-66.
Stockton sparked a 7-1 run with a 3-pointer as Utah built its
lead to 84-67 with 8:18 remaining.
"Execution, execution, execution," said Polynice. "During the
game one of their players was so baffled that we could score so
easily that they said something. It's funny when you hear that from
an opponent and see it as well."
The first half, which included eight lead changes and 11 ties,
was as struggle for the Jazz.
"I was impressed with the way the Hawks executed in the first
half and stayed in the ball game with us," Utah coach Jerry Sloan
said. "Fortunately, we made a couple of defensive plays that got
us in the open court and got us some easy baskets."
Malone scored six points in an 11-3 run that gave Utah a 52-44
halftime advantage.
"We hung in there for 20 minutes, but they turned it up to
another level and we can't answer that," Hawks forward Hanno
Mottola said.
Game notes
The teams combined for 40 turnovers. ... Utah center Greg
Ostertag, playing with a bad back, winced on almost every play but
managed to block five shots and grab nine rebounds. ... Utah scored
50 of its 99 points in the paint and outscored the Hawks 17-5 on
fast breaks. ... The Jazz have a 9-3 record in second games of
back-to-backs.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Atlanta Clubhouse
Utah Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 85
Seattle 82
Charlotte 82
Indiana 72
Milwaukee 98
Philadelphia 91
Golden State 84
Chicago 78
Portland 95
Houston 89
Orlando 93
Denver 86
Utah 99
Atlanta 82
Dallas 103
LA Clippers 92
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