"Down the stretch, we know what we're going to do, but the other team doesn't," he said. "We guys have played so many years together that we like our chances down the stretch."
 Atlanta's Lorenzen Wright attempts to bother John Stockton, but the Utah guard had the last laugh. AP Photos |
After Toni Kukoc made a 3-pointer to cut the Jazz's lead to three points with 2:05 remaining, Malone fed Donyell Marshall for a dunk 20 seconds later and then hit a 20-foot jumper from the left wing that made it 107-100 with 1:12 to go.
Utah got 14 points from John Starks and 10 from reserve forward Danny Manning.
"It's not just the Karl Malone and John Stockton show down the stretch," Malone said. "From one through 12, this is the best team I've played on."
Utah, which has won four of five and 14 of 17, led by as many as nine points, the first time coming on Starks' jumper from the top of the key early in the third quarter.
The Hawks fought back and went up 78-76 on a pair of free throws by Jason Terry with 3:39 left in the third.
"We couldn't deal with their pick-and-roll any way we tried," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "That's what happens when you play against a team and don't have yourself mentally prepared. The last three or four teams we've played have killed us with the pick-and-roll. It's not like we haven't seen it for 17 years. Fortunately we were able to come away with a win. That's the main thing."
Kukoc, starting his first game for Atlanta, led the Hawks with 24 points. Terry finished with 21 points and Lorenzen Wright added 18.
"Utah is one of those teams -- they know what they're doing coming down the court every time," Kukoc said. "At one point, I guess we're going to learn."
Atlanta has lost eight straight and 15 of 17. The Hawks dropped their sixth consecutive home game.
"We're through settling for moral victories," Wright said. "We're looking for a W. If we put two halves together, I think we could beat that team."
Terry hit a pair of free throws with 53.8 seconds remaining to make it 107-102, but Malone fed Stockton for an uncontested layup in Utah's halfcourt offense to end the scoring with 25.1 seconds to go.
Stockton was unhappy to sense some of his teammates seeming to take the Hawks for granted, even as late as the fourth quarter.
"I thought we were still playing hard," Stockton said. "It might have been a little bit of an attitude thing. Sometimes if you get a few stops here and there, you can start inching away. If you can create a mismatch, you do it."
Notes: Unless they meet the 76ers in the NBA Finals, the Jazz won't face former Hawks C Dikembe Mutombo this season. Utah played Philadelphia twice before the 76ers traded for Mutombo. The Jazz faced Atlanta twice after the Feb. 22 deal. ... Malone is now six games from passing Paul Silas for eighth place on the career games played list.