Pippen leads Portland to easy win
By Landon Hal!
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — The Utah Jazz
were exhausted. Then Karl Mal
one was tired of hearing about
ScottiePippen.
Pippen scored nine of his 20
points over the final nine min
utes as the Portland Trail Blazers
pulled away for an easy 94-75
victory Sunday in Game 1 of their
best-of-seven Western Confer
ence semifinals.
“It took us three quarters before
we could really get a good feel for
this team, but in the fourth quar
ter ouil defense took over,” said
Pipperi, who averaged 6.8 points
in four regular-season games
against the Jazz.
Pippen may once again keep
Malone from getting a champi
onship ring. Pippen and Michael
Jordan helped the Chicago Bulls
beat the Jazz in the NBA Finals in
1997 and 1998.
When asked whether these
kinds of games were the reason
Pippen was acquired by the Blaz
ers from Houston, Malone
snapped: “I don’t want to hear
that,” followed by an expletive.
“I don’t care about that. End of in
terview. I’m done here.”
The Jazz were playing on less
than two days’ rest after struggling
past Seattle in Game 5 of their
first-round series Friday night.
The Blazers had four days off, and
Utah’s exhaustion showed.
The Jazz missed nine of their
first 10 shots in the fourth quarter
and shot 33 percent for the period
— slightly worse than the 37 per
cent they shot for the game. But
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan dismissed
that the lack of rest had anything
to do with his team’s dismal per
formance.
“Our guys didn’t come to
play,” he said. “I’ll tell you right
now, we didn’t come to play, and
this series will be over real quick
if they’re going to accept that.
“They had 24 hours to sleep.
That’s their own fault if they can’t
get the rest and get ready to play.
We had too many days off last
week. Now we get a little rest.
Who cares? I don’t care, because
they get paid to play, and they’re
supposed to.”
The Blazers led 65-61 to start
the fourth quarter, but Pippen’s
aggressiveness helped put the
game away.
His short turnaround jumper
e x -
tended
t h e
lead to
71-63
with 8:36 remaining. Pippen hit
a 3-pointer to make it 80-67, and
Greg Anthony sealed it with two
free throws, a layup and 3-point
er for an 87-71 lead with 3:48 to
go
“This is just one game. We
don’t want to read too much into
it,” Pippen said. “We have to do
the job that we have do in this se
ries, and that is defend the home
court in all games.”
Utah has lost its last 12 playoff
games in Portland dating to the
1991 conference finals.
Malone scored 22 points de
spite straining a ligament in his
left knee on a freak play late in the
second quarter. Malone was sit
ting on the bench when team
mate Armen Gilliam dived for a
rebound and crashed into Mal
one’s chair. Malone came out
limping slightly in the third quar
ter, but played the rest of the way.
Damon Stoudamire added 14
points, 10 in the first quarter, as
six Blazers scored in double fig
ures. Arvydas Sabonis had 14 re
bounds and Brian Grant added
10.
The Blazers had a tremendous
advantage at the line, hitting 26
of 27 free throws after making just
eight of their first 14. Utah got to
the line just 23 times, hitting 16.
The Blazers pulled away from
a 12-all tie with a 10-0 run as Utah
missed nine straight shots over a
nearly six-minute span. The
Blazers didn’t make a shot over
the final 3:50, and managed a 23
15 lead after one quarter.
“Our guys came out with the
right intensity, the right defensive
mindset, and we got off early,”
Portland coach Mike Dunleavy
said.
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Shaq,
La ke rs
coast
LOS ANGELES — Just about
every member of the Phoenix
Suns, or so it seemed, took a turn
guarding Shaquille O’Neal on’
Sunday.
After the first quarter, no one
had much luck.
O’Neal overcame a slow start to
score 37 points, grab 14 rebounds
and block four shots as the Los
Angeles Lakers trounced the Suns
105-77 in the opener of their West
ern Conference semifinals.
Game 2 will be played Wednes
day night at the Staples Center.
Kobe Bryant added 25 points
for the Lakers. Anfernee Hard
away led the Sims with 25 points,
while Cliff Robinson, who battled
foul problems, added 13.
Jason Kidd, playing just his sec
ond game since breaking his left
ankle March 22, was held to three
points, seven rebounds and seven
assists.
O’Neal made the game’s first
shot before missing his final six
attempts in the first quarter, when
he scored four points.
After that, with the likes of Luc
Longley, Robinson, Corie Blount,
Oliver Miller, Rogers, and occa
sionally others, trying to defend
him, the Suns had minimal suc
cess.
O’Neal’s dominance was never
more evident than one sequence
early in the third quarter. He
missed from close range, got the re
bound over Longley, missed again,
got the rebound again, and scored.
The Associated Press
Heat wins
Game 1
MIAMI — The start of the Mia
mi Heat-New York Knicks series
was worth the wait.
After a week of hype, the bitter
rivals lived up to the buildup in
Game 1 Sunday, when Miami
won a thriller 87-83 thanks to
two baskets by Alonzo Mourning
in the final 42 seconds. *
The lead changed hands seven
times in a five-minute stretch
during the fourth quarter, and the
score was tied at 79, 81 and 83
before Mourning came through.
He got position inside on
Patrick Ewing, took a feed from
Dan Majerle and scored for an 85
83 lead with 41.8 seconds to go.
Miami regained possession when
P.J. Brown tipped a pass by Allan
Houston, and Mourning swished
a 17-footer with 5.6 seconds left.
Miami, eliminated in the open
ing round of the playoffs by New
York each of the past two years,
will try for a 2-0 lead in the best
of-seven matchup Tuesday night.
“It was just the beginning of
the series,” Mourning said.
“We’ve got to come back in the
second game with the same in
tensity.”
Ewing boasted earlier this
week that he’s the best center in
the Eastern Conference, but the
best center Sunday was Mourn
ing, who had 26 points and six
rebounds.
Ewing also played well, with
17 points and nine rebounds in
40 minutes.
The Associated Press