Jazz Thwarts Kukoc, Bulls

It wasn’t quite the Stumbling of the Bulls because Toni Kukoc still showed the heart of a champion.

Karl Malone had 21 points as the Utah Jazz overcame a stunning shooting display by Kukoc to beat Chicago, 104-96, at Salt Lake City, on the floor where Michael Jordan clinched the Bulls’ sixth NBA title eight months ago.

In Friday night’s rematch of the defending conference champions, the Jazz was seriously threatened by an undermanned, under-talented Bulls’ team that hadn’t yet installed all of its inbounds plays and press-breakers.

Kukoc scored 22 of his 32 points in the second half and nearly brought the Bulls back from an 18-point deficit.

But the Bulls missed five straight shots in the closing seconds, and the Jazz beat Chicago in the regular season for the third consecutive time.

“They were much better than we expected,” Utah guard Jeff Hornacek said. “But it’s still a win. Nobody will notice at the end of the year.”

Seattle 92, Dallas 86--Gary Payton scored six of his 28 points in overtime as the SuperSonics, under new coach Paul Westphal, defeated the Mavericks at Seattle.

Payton scored on an 18-footer 41 seconds into overtime to snap an 84-84 tie, made two free throws after being fouled by Steve Nash with 3:04 left and then spun around Cedric Ceballos for a reverse layup with 2:13 on the clock for a 90-84 lead.

Vin Baker added 18 points, and Olden Polynice, Seattle’s new center, had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Ceballos led Dallas with 16 points.

Indiana 96, Washington 81--Jalen Rose scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and the Pacers capitalized on a big advantage from the free-throw line at Indianapolis.

The Wizards made all of their free throws, but Indiana had a 29-9 advantage at the line.

Chris Mullin had 15 points for Indiana, including the first 10 as the Pacers took a lead they never lost.

Juwan Howard led Washington with 16 points.

Orlando 93, New York 85--Nick Anderson scored 19 points and the Magic held off a late rally led by Latrell Sprewell to ruin the controversial guard’s debut with the New York Knicks in the game at Orlando.

Sprewell, playing in his first game since being suspended for the final 68 games of last season for choking Golden State Coach P.J. Carlesimo, scored 24 points in his Knick debut.

The 28-year-old guard, who lost more than $6 million in salary during the suspension, made eight of 16 shots and led a fourth-quarter rally that trimmed a 21-point New York deficit to 87-82 in the final minute.

Detroit 95, Miami 81--Smothering defense and Jerry Stackhouse’s 24 points off the bench led the Pistons at Miami.

Detroit made Miami look sluggish on offense, and the Piston bench outscored the Heat reserves, 35-13.

Grant Hill scored 19 points for the Pistons. Jamal Mashburn had 19 and Tim Hardaway 18 for Miami.

San Antonio 101, Sacramento 83--Tim Duncan launched his second NBA season in a big way, scoring 19 points and delighting Spur fans with his dunks in the second half at San Antonio.

Duncan led the Spurs with 17 rebounds. Sean Elliott, returning from a knee injury that sidelined him the second half of last season, added 14 points for San Antonio.

Chris Webber, in his debut with Sacramento after being traded by the Washington Wizards, scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Rookie Jason Williams led Sacramento with 21 points.

Minnesota 110, Denver 92--Stephon Marbury had 21 points and 10 assists as the Timberwolves led from start to finish at Denver.

Joe Smith added 23 points on 10-of-11 shooting for the Timberwolves, who won for the first time in six season openers on the road.

Antonio McDyess led the Nuggets with 18 points, and Nick Van Exel had 17 points and 10 assists.

Philadelphia 78, Charlotte 66--Theo Ratliff had 13 points and nine rebounds and the 76ers overcame a subpar game by Allen Iverson to defeat the Hornets at Charlotte for the first time in nearly seven years.

Charlotte made only three of its final 17 field-goal attempts over the last 13 minutes, including a stretch of nearly 12 minutes in which the Hornets made just one basket.

Iverson was held scoreless in the second and third quarters and wound up with 15 points.

Atlanta 100, Cleveland 83--The Hawks, hoping to begin the season with another quick start, outscored the Cavaliers 24-4 over the final eight minutes at Atlanta.

Steve Smith scored 21 points for Atlanta, which began last season with 11 straight victories.

Mookie Blaylock finished with 16 points, Dikembe Mutombo had 15 and LaPhonso Ellis 14 for Atlanta. Zydrunas Ilgauskas led Cleveland with 22 points.

Toronto 103, Boston 92--Taking advantage of the Celtics’ weakness inside, Kevin Willis scored 28 points and added 16 rebounds for the Raptors at Boston.

Doug Christie added 27 points for Toronto.

Boston was led by Antoine Walker with 21 points and rookie Paul Pierce with 19.