Francis drilled a 3-pointer from three feet beyond the arc at the top of the key with one-tenth of a second remaining as the Houston Rockets posted a 95-92 victory over the Utah Jazz.

"It felt good to make a shot like that with the game on the line," said Francis, who hit a fallaway jumper over Stockton.

"I was just trying to play good defense," Stockton said. "I guess you want a guy to hit that shot from that far out to beat you and he did."

NBA TV highlights from Jazz-Rockets: 56k | 300k Francis' hits the game-winner: 930k avi | QT Cuttino Mobley congratulates Steve Francis on his game-winning trey with a big hug. Bill Baptist/NBAE/Getty Images

Francis' basket came after Stockton followed in Donyell Marshall's miss to tie the contest with 5.8 seconds left. On Utah's previous possession, the ageless guard recorded his 15,000th career assist.

With Houston holding an 89-87 lead, Stockton drove around Kelvin Cato and appeared to have a layup. But he passed out to Bryon Russell, who drilled a 3-pointer to give Utah a 90-89 lead with 34 seconds left.

"I guess I'm glad to make the shot for him to set the record but I wish we would have won the game," Russell said.

"I hate it that he (Stockton) got the record against us but it shows what a great player he is," added Francis, who scored 16 points. "The fact that at his age he continues to compete with younger players is something special."

During the ensuing timeout, Utah's Karl Malone was assessed a technical foul. Malone was upset that no foul was called when he appeared to be hit by Cato on a drive with 1:08 remaining.

"Yeah, it was a (bleeping) block if he blocked my head," Malone said. "(Referee Danny) Crawford said I walked over and said he was a cheater. I didn't say anything and that's all I'm going to say about it because it will cost me money to say anything more."

Cuttino Mobley hit the technical free throw and Cato added a layup to give Houston a 92-90 lead with 21 seconds left.

"It seems everything is always against us," Russell said. "Cato took off Malone's head and what are we supposed to do about it? Then they call the technical at a crucial time like that. It's very frustrating to have the turning point of the game be a technical. I don't understand it."

Mobley, who scored 21 points, naturally saw the controversial play differently.

"Cato said to me that Malone pulled him," Mobley said. "How do you get that mad when it's something you did?"

"The guys back in the truck told me it was a clean block, that there was nothing there," Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich added.

However, Utah coach Jerry Sloan was furious with the officiating and claimed the Jazz have had previous problems with Crawford. It was Crawford who made the non-call on Cato, then hit Malone with the technical.

"Something funny always happens with Danny," he said. "The aggravating thing is this is the third straight game we've scored more points in the paint without shooting more free throws than our opponent. You have no chance to win if that happens."

Malone collected 21 points and 15 rebounds and Marshall added 18 and 15. Stockton, the NBA's all-time assist leader who is three weeks shy of his 40th birthday, handed out 13 to go with 12 points. He had 10 points in the fourth quarter, when Utah erased an eight-point deficit.

Marshall's layup, off a feed from Stockton, capped an 11-2 spurt and gave the Jazz an 87-86 lead with 3:01 remaining. Griffin hit 1-of-2 with 2:30 before Kenny Thomas' layup gave Houston an 89-87 lead with 47 seconds to play.

"What I really like was how we regrouped after they came back" said Tomjanovich, who won his 455th game to pass Billy Cunningham and move into 25th on the all-time list. "We knew they were going to come back but we came back with some clutch lays and great defense." Utah came up short in the opener of a five-game road swing, the Jazz's first trip since a franchise-record nine-game, 28-day trek during the Winter Olympics.

It marked Utah's second straight loss to a sub-.500 team. The Jazz suffered an 85-79 setback Friday to the New York Knicks.

The Rockets led by as many as nine in the first quarter before settling for a 27-19 lead after one period. Houston stretched its lead to 33-19 early in the second, but Utah closed the period with a 20-6 run to pull within 40-39 at intermission.