Jazz Squash the Kings in Game 1 of First Round, 117-87

SALT LAKE CITY (May 8, 1999) -- Five extra minutes were needed to decide all three regular-season games between the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz. Only five minutes were required to decide their playoff opener.

Karl Malone and Greg Ostertag triggered a quick start and the experience of the Jazz was too much for the exuberance of the Kings in a 117-87 rout in their Western Conference first-round series opener.

The loss was the worst in 119 all-time playoff games for the Kings, who entered the NBA in 1949 as the Rochester Royals. Their previous worst was a 112-94 setback to the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967, when the team was known as the Cincinnati Royals. The only current Kings player alive at that time was guard Vernon Maxwell.

"We had these guys three times in overtime and they beat us once and the others could have gone either way," Malone said. "We needed to know where we're at as a team because we haven't been playing great basketball."

"I don't have much to say," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "They took it to us in just about every way they could do it."

Brash and young, Sacramento was playing in its first playoff game since 1996 while aging and mature Utah has reached the NBA Finals each of the last two seasons.

Malone scored six points in a game-opening 12-2 run that set the tone for what should be the highest-scoring series of the postseason. Meanwhile, the 7-2 Ostertag stood firm on the defensive end, blocking a handful of early shots that soon had Sacramento resorting to long jumpers.

"The first quarter, we had a lot of people play hard and well and we got to open the court a little bit more and got some easy baskets rather than rely on the half-court offense," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "That got us off to a good start. I didn't know if we were going to be able to stay with it or not."

Malone had 21 points and nine assists and Ostertag added a playoff career-high 16 points, nine rebounds and six blocks as the Jazz led by double figures over the final 40 minutes, thoroughly outclassing the Kings.

Game Two is Monday night at Utah, where the Jazz are 23-3 this season. The Kings have won one playoff game since 1981.

"These guys have a talented team and they've got everything to gain and they've got absolutely nothing to lose and that's just the way it is," Malone said. "People are giving them no chance to beat us anyway so they're just going to come out and play freely. We're the team with the pressure on us because we're supposed to win so it's going to be a tough game on Monday."

Malone won his anticipated duel with fellow MVP candidate Chris Webber, who had 14 points and nine rebounds but shot just 6-of-18 from the field. Ostertag outplayed Vlade Divac in what many thought was the key matchup of the series.

Jeff Hornacek scored 18 points, John Stockton added 17 and Howard Eisley 14 for the hot-shooting Jazz, whose offense is not as explosive as Sacramento's but much more effective. Utah shot 56.5 percent (48-of-85) from the field.

Sacramento pushed Utah to overtime in all three meetings during the season, winning once. But the Kings never led in this one as their league-leading offense never got untracked. Instead, their league-worst defense made things easy for the Jazz.

"We knew in the playoffs they would step it up," Kings forward Corliss Williamson said. "The first game they would come out and play hard, but we really didn't expect to run into them like we did tonight. They just came out and took it right to us."

Malone scored six points and Ostertag rejected two shots as the Jazz bolted to a 12-2 lead less than three minutes into the game. Stockton and Hornacek made 3-pointers, Ostertag blocked two more shots and Malone added two more baskets, including a layup that widened the gap to 28-14 with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter.

Sacramento responded with its only significant surge of the game, scoring six straight points. But Divac quickly picked up his second and third fouls and sat for the rest of the first half.

Ostertag made a layup before Eisley took over. He sank four free throws before drilling a 3-pointer for a 37-20 advantage with 5.6 seconds left. He threw in another at the buzzer that was waved off.

In the first quarter, Utah shot 68 percent (13-of-19) and held Sacramento to 30 percent (6-of-20). The Kings' only bright spot was rookie point guard Jason Williams, who made a trio of 3-pointers and several fancy passes.

"That first quarter they really dominated us and got us on our heels and we never recovered," Adelman said. "They knew what they had to do and they went out and did it. ... They challenged every shot we took, they went after us, they ran the floor, they were very crisp with their execution. When you get down 17 points to Utah, you're in a lot of trouble."

A dunk by Lawrence Funderburke cut the deficit to 48-38 midway through the second quarter but Utah put away the game with 13 straight points. Malone and Stockton scored four apiece in the surge, which was capped at 61-38 by Shandon Anderson's dunk with 1:10 left.

"They missed some shots and we made some," Hornacek said. "It was part us shooting the ball pretty well and they had an off night. We don't anticipate that happening again."

Despite bursts of 9-2 and 10-2 in the third period, Sacramento got no closer than 16 points. Eisley's 3-pointer closed the quarter and gave Utah an 88-67 lead. Both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter, when Jazz forward Adam Keefe scored all of his 13 points.

Utah held a 48-38 rebounding advantage and forced 18 turnovers, leading to 24 points. They scored an astounding 64 points in the paint and 27 on fast breaks.

"We've always been willing to run on opportunity but to do that you have to play defense, you have to screen out, you have to get rebounds," Stockton said. "If you do that, you can get down the floor."

Divac scored 12 points and Williams added 11 for the Kings, who shot just 36.5 percent (31-of-85).

"I don't know what we did wrong or what we did right or what they did wrong or what they did right," Williams said. "It's just a matter of they really wanted it a little more than us and they jumped on us early and that hurt us."

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