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Friday, Mar. 9 9:00pm ET
Jazz maintain stranglehold on West

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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – Hot-shooting Utah couldn't miss Friday night and Phoenix didn't really have a chance.

John Stockton
A familiar sight: Utah's John Stockton on the drive.
The Jazz, second in the league in field goal percentage, shot a season-best 62.7 percent from the field and improved to 14-1 in games when they make at least half their shots as Utah defeated Phoenix 107-95.

"When we shoot the ball like that, we're awfully tough to beat," said Karl Malone, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

"If you're shooting the ball and having that kind of field goal percentage, you get the feeling that everything's going to be in your favor all night," Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.

Almost everything did go Utah's way except holding onto the ball as the Jazz committed 23 turnovers.

"We had too many turnovers," Sloan said. "It looked like we had never seen each other out there a couple of times."

But the Jazz could certainly find the hoop. David Benoit scored a season-high 18 points and Bryon Russell had 14.

"If you don't make them take tough shots, then you don't have a chance. We just didn't play defense," Jason Kidd said.

John Stockton added 12 points and nine assists as Utah (43-18) won its fourth straight game and maintained its lead in the race for the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs.

"The Jazz know what they're trying to do right now. They're trying for the best record in the West and then win a world championship ... hopefully we have some guys who can learn something from them," Phoenix coach Scott Skiles said.

Shawn Marion led Phoenix (36-25) with 24 points, and Tony Delk had 21. Kidd handed out 13 assists but scored just nine points on 3-for-10 shooting.

The Jazz made their key run in the third quarter when they turned a 58-49 lead into a 21-point cushion during a four-minute span. Malone, who had six points in the 14-2 run, made two free throws with 2:44 remaining in the quarter to make it 72-51.

"We did a good job of executing tonight, much better than we did in Phoenix. We ran our plays and got good looks at the basket all night ... it was a total turnaround from they last time we played," John Starks said, referring to Utah's 40-percent shooting in the 90-80 loss at Phoenix Feb. 25.

The closest the Suns could get after the big Jazz run was 11 points late in the fourth quarter as Utah has won six of its last seven games.

The Suns, who scored 38 points in the fourth quarter to make the final score respectable, seemed to feel the effects of the largest collapse in team history as they blew a 28-point lead in a 100-89 loss to Sacramento on Wednesday.

The Suns have lost four of their last six games and gave the Jazz a bevy of open shots as they were slow to come off double-teams and rotations.

Stockton and Malone were only required to play a combined 53 minutes as Benoit, who shot 7-for-11, and the bench kept the Suns on their heels.

Benoit scored four points in an 8-0 Utah run to start the second quarter. Russell's dunk gave the Jazz their biggest lead of the first half at 30-19 with 8:10 left until halftime.

Game notes
Phoenix starting center Jake Tsakaladis dressed but did not play due to a sprained right ankle. ... Marion and Starks embraced before the opening tipoff. Starks undercut Marion as he elevated for a rebound in the teams' last meeting, causing the Suns forward to be carried off on a stretcher and miss three games with a concussion. ... The Suns' lead in the race for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference shrank to 2.5 games ahead of Houston.

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AUDIO/VIDEO
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 John Starks makes a steal and goes the distance for a layup.
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