Malone Ailing but the Jazz Is Just Fine

Karl Malone, who almost never misses a game, could have done so Tuesday night as he was bothered by flu symptoms, but that just wouldn’t be the Mailman’s way.

“We all knew Karl was under the weather, and that made me open my eyes and realize my team needed me,� said Greg Foster, who grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds as the Jazz defeated the Phoenix Suns, 92-73, at Salt Lake City.

Malone led the Jazz with 19 points, Foster had 12 and John Stockton had 11 assists for Utah, which moved back into a tie for the best record in the Western Conference.

Dennis Scott led the Suns with 16 points.

San Antonio 86, Cleveland 85--Vinny Del Negro made a 12-foot baseline jumper with three seconds to play to give the Spurs the victory at Cleveland.

Del Negro drove around a pick by Tim Duncan that freed him from defender Derek Anderson and buried the fall-away jumper to end Cleveland’s four-game winning streak.

David Robinson led the Spurs with 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Duncan had 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas led Cleveland with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

Charlotte 106, Toronto 89--Glen Rice had 24 points and seven rebounds and all five Charlotte starters scored in double figures at Toronto.

David Wesley had 10 points and 14 assists and Anthony Mason contributed 11 points and nine rebounds for Charlotte, which won for the 14th time in 15 games.

Marcus Camby had 20 points and John Wallace scored 12 for Toronto.

Milwaukee 118, Houston 108--Ray Allen scored 33 points and Armon Gilliam had a season-high 29 at Milwaukee as the Bucks ended a nine-game losing streak.

The injury-depleted Bucks, who have been without Glenn Robinson, Terrell Brandon and Tyrone Hill, lost forward Michael Curry because of a sprained right ankle midway through the second quarter.

Hakeem Olajuwon scored 22 points and Othella Harrington added 18 for the Rockets.

Atlanta 85, Orlando 73--Steve Smith scored 10 of his 28 points in the final 10 minutes to lead the Hawks at Atlanta.

After the Magic cut the lead to 73-67 with 4:30 to play, Smith hit a pair of free throws and two three-pointers in a 12-0 run that gave the Hawks an 85-67 lead with two minutes left.

Orlando, battling Washington for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East, ended its winning streak at two games.

Washington 99, Portland 87--Juwan Howard scored 24 points and Tracy Murray had 23 as the Wizards survived the third-quarter ejection of Rod Strickland to defeat the slumping Trail Blazers at Portland, Ore.

Howard and Murray scored 15 apiece in the second half and the Wizards used a fourth-quarter surge to pull one game ahead of New Jersey in the fight for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.

Arvydas Sabonis had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.

Strickland drew two technical fouls for protesting a jump ball call with 2:39 left in the third quarter.

New York 88, Golden State 75--Larry Johnson scored 23 points and Allan Houston had 18 as the Knicks defeated the Warriors at Oakland for their first road victory in more than a month.

The Knicks, still without injured Patrick Ewing, Chris Dudley and Buck Williams, got 12 points from Charles Oakley and 10 points apiece from Chris Mills and John Starks in ending a four-game road losing streak.

NBA Notes

Dan Issel, forced out as coach of the Denver Nuggets in January 1995, has been offered the team’s general manager position, the Denver Post reported. The job has been vacant since Allan Bristow was fired Feb. 4.