SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA (May 14, 1999) -- The only thing getting old about John Stockton is his
uncanny ability to make clutch shots.
Stockton sank a 20-footer with seven-tenths of a second to play, giving the Utah Jazz a wild
90-89 victory over the Sacramento Kings that forced Game Five of their Western
Conference first-round series.
The Kings took an 89-88 lead with 7.2 seconds remaining on two free throws by Vlade
Divac, who scored Sacramento's last seven points. They were one defensive play away from
eliminating the two-time defending conference champions and their first playoff series win
since 1981, when the franchise was in Kansas City.
The 37-year-old Stockton received a high pick from long-time teammate Karl Malone and
dribbled to the right wing, where he buried an open jumper. Sacramento missed a
desperation shot on its last possession and is headed back to Utah for Game Five.
"Was I open? I didn't realize it," Stockton said. "I guess when you've been in as many big
games as I have, you just tend to block that out. I just remember I had the shot available and
I took it."
"It's our comfort zone," Malone said. "When we need it, we just try to execute something we
are all familiar with. It's not just us either, it's the entire team."
Stockton and the rest of his veteran teammates have looked old at times against the youthful
Kings. But the future Hall of Famer made the jumper at the buzzer against Houston in 1997
that put the Jazz into the NBA Finals for the first time and victimized the Kings tonight.
"It's a play we've run all year long," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "John took the shot, it was
there and he made it. He's had shots like that before. He's made some and missed some. I
think he missed one the other night and made one tonight."
"Right now, it's pretty high up there," Stockton said. "It was a big shot and one I'll never
forget."
The Kings knew that Stockton's shot cost them an opportunity for a huge upset.
"Stockton has a history of making big shots," Sacramento coach Rick Adelman said. "John
has done it his whole career and he did it on that one. He made a nice pass on one play and
made a big shot at the end."
"There is no excuse why we let Utah walk out of here," Kings forward Chris Webber said.
"Utah would not have let us back into the game. I'm disappointed that we let them back in it.
No experienced team would have let them do that."
The Jazz host Game Five on Sunday at the Delta Center, where they were were 23-3 this
season before losing Game Two to the Kings.
"We're gonna come out and play in Game Five," Sloan said. "I don't think momentum means
anything. It won't mean anything to them. Like I said before, the team that wins three games
has momentum. Of course if you don't, you stay at home."
"This is not an easy team to beat, let me tell ya," Malone said. "They're very tough and
aggressive and they keep attacking."
"I think we're gonna be ready," Adelman said. "In the four games we've played, three of
them have been close. We won there in Game Two, and we know it's gonna be difficult, but
that's what we're faced with."
The game featured 17 ties and 30 lead changes, including five in the final 31 seconds. Utah
never led by more than three points and trailed by as much as nine late in the third quarter.
Malone had 23 points and 16 rebounds. Stockton scored six of his 12 points in the last four
minutes and added eight assists. Shandon Anderson scored eight of his 16 points in the final
90 seconds.
Chris Webber had 18 points and 11 rebounds and Divac added 14 and 14 for Sacramento,
which shot just 38 percent (29-of-76) from the field, including 5-of-22 from 3-point range.
"We made some mistakes. We made two mistakes down the stretch and it cost us, both of
them were team mistakes," Adelman said. "I'm not gonna sit here and single out any
individuals. On three different occasions, we just didn't do what we were supposed to do
and it cost us."
Stockton's basket with 3:41 to go gave the Jazz a 76-75 lead before back-to-back
3-pointers by Jon Barry and Vernon Maxwell gave the Kings a five-point margin with 2:14
to play.
After a timeout, Stockton answered with a quick layup and Webber looked shaky making
1-of-2 free throws before Anderson drilled a 3-pointer from the left corner, cutting the
deficit to 82-81 with 1:30 to go.
Divac made two free throws, but Anderson sank another 3-pointer from the same spot that
tied it for the last time with 56 seconds remaining. After Divac missed a hook and was
thrown to the floor by Malone, Anderson went over Webber for a transition layup and an
86-84 lead with 31 seconds left.
"I think there was a mismatch with Chris Webber, who was not used to guarding smaller
guys," Anderson said. "He elected to stay inside and help out on defense and left me open
out on the perimeter. I don't know what shots were there, I just took the shot. I think
everybody knew something had to be done."
Divac squeezed between Malone and Stockton for a scoop layup. He drew the foul and
made the free throw for an 87-86 edge with 23 seconds to play. The Jazz answered with a
high pick-and-roll as Malone took a feed from Stockton and rolled into the lane for a layup
with 13 seconds left.
"We played with a lot of heart and it could've gone either way," Divac said. "But we will go
to Utah and fight. We know we can beat them, and they know we can beat 'em, so we'll
see. We left everything on the floor."
The Jazz shot 48 percent (39-of-82) and made 9-of-10 foul shots. Jeff Hornacek scored
nine points and Bryon Russell and Howard Eisley added eight each. Russell grabbed eight
rebounds and Eisley handed out seven assists.
Tariq Abdul-Wahad scored 16 points, Maxwell added 13 and Corliss Williamson 12 for the
Kings, who made 26-of-30 free throws. Jason Williams handed out six assists.
The Kings held a 44-43 halftime lead as Webber scored nine points. He picked up his fourth
foul in the third quarter but stayed out of trouble and Sacramento surged ahead.
A basket by Williamson gave the Kings a 65-56 lead with 3:27 to go before the Jazz closed
the period with eight straight points. Malone had two straight hoops, Anderson scored and
Todd Fuller added a basket.
UTAH (90)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Malone 39 9-21 5-5 9-16 4 4 23
Russell 35 3-10 2-2 3-8 0 5 8
Ostertag 15 1-2 2-2 0-1 0 5 4
Hornacek 20 4-9 0-0 0-1 1 2 9
Stockton 32 6-11 0-0 0-0 8 3 12
Anderson 30 7-9 0-1 1-4 0 4 16
Bailey 7 2-4 0-0 0-1 1 0 4
Eisley 35 4-8 0-0 1-3 7 1 8
Foster 16 1-4 0-0 0-3 1 1 2
Fuller 6 1-3 0-0 1-4 0 0 2
Keefe 5 1-1 0-0 0-1 0 1 2
Vaughn DNP - coach's decision
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 240 39-82 9-10 15-42 22 26 90
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.476, FT-.900. 3-Point Goals:
3-11, .273 (Russell 0-3, Hornacek 1-3, Anderson
2-3, Eisley 0-2). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked
shots: 2 (Stockton, Malone). Turnovers: 17
(Malone 4, Stockton 4, Anderson 2, Russell 2,
Bailey, Eisley, Fuller, Hornacek, Keefe). Steals:
8 (Stockton 3, Hornacek 2, Anderson, Eisley,
Russell).
SACRAMENTO (89)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Webber 37 7-15 4-6 4-11 2 4 18
C Williamson 31 6-11 0-1 1-1 1 2 12
Divac 43 2-9 10-11 4-14 4 3 14
Abdul-wahad 24 5-9 6-6 0-4 3 2 16
J Williams 33 1-6 4-4 0-3 6 0 7
Barry 18 3-8 0-0 0-1 3 1 7
Funderburke 4 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Maxwell 26 4-14 2-2 1-2 1 2 13
Pollard 10 0-0 0-0 1-1 0 4 0
Stojakovic 14 1-4 0-0 2-2 0 1 2
Hawkins DNP - coach's decision
James DNP - coach's decision
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 240 29-76 26-30 14-40 20 19 89
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.382, FT-.867. 3-Point Goals:
5-22, .227 (Divac 0-1, J Williams 1-4, Barry 1-3,
Maxwell 3-11, Stojakovic 0-3). Team rebounds: 7.
Blocked shots: 3 (Abdul-wahad, C Williamson,
Pollard). Turnovers: 15 (Divac 6, Webber 4, Barry
2, Abdul-wahad, J Williams, Stojakovic). Steals:
12 (Abdul-wahad 3, Maxwell 3, J Williams 2,
Barry, Divac, Pollard, Webber).
____________________________________________
Utah 23 20 21 26 - 90
Sacramento 26 18 21 24 - 89
____________________________________________
Technical fouls: Utah 3 (Stockton, 7:45 3rd;
Hornacek, 5:48 3rd; Head Coach Sloan, 4:05 3rd).
Sacramento 1 (C Williamson, 7:45 3rd). Flagrant
fouls: None. A: 17,317. T: 2:27. Officials: Dan
Crawford, Ron Garretson, Greg Willard.
Jazz Win a Wild Game 4 Against the Kings, 90-89
