Sleepy Spurs Miss 25 Straight Shots -- San Antonio Misfires Vs. Jazz For 16 Minutes

SAN ANTONIO - This time it was the Utah Jazz's turn to win a blowout. The San Antonio Spurs pitched in to help with one of the worst shooting performances in NBA playoff history.

The Jazz held San Antonio without a field goal in 25 attempts over a 16-minute span of the second and third quarters yesterday, and evened their Western Conference playoff series at 1-1 with a 96-84 victory against the Spurs.

"We were able to hang with them, and I think we were able to execute our offense. To me, that was the most important thing that we were able to accomplish here," Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan said.

The Spurs won Thursday's series opener 106-89. The contest moves to Utah for Tuesday's Game 3.

San Antonio set a franchise record for fewest points scored in a playoff game and broke a host of other NBA and Spur playoff records with their poor offensive performance.

"We just fell asleep," Spur Coach John Lucas said. "They flat-out beat us."

Jay Humphries scored 12 of his 25 points as Utah took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Spurs 30-9 for a 50-33 lead at halftime. The Jazz expanded the margin to 75-49 after three quarters as San Antonio continued to misfire.

"I just went out there and took my shots. They kept coming to me, and I kept hitting them," Humphries said.

The Spurs scored just 25 points in the two middle periods, making just five of 34 shots, or 14.7 percent.

"It's not so bad missing shots as it is letting them score. We just couldn't get anything to happen. We couldn't change the momentum of the game," said David Robinson, who scored only 12 points and had nine rebounds for the Spurs.

Robinson twisted his right knee early in the third period, but returned to the game after a brief period on the bench. He is expected to play Tuesday.

Negele Knight led the Spurs with 16 points. Dennis Rodman had 14 points and 17 rebounds before he was ejected with 3:16 remaining after flinging a few choice words at the Jazz after a tussle with Utah's John Stockton.

Stockton, who scored only three points in the series' first game, scored 17 points before leaving Saturday's game with a thigh bruise he suffered in the exchange with Rodman. He is expected to play Tuesday.

"I think Rodman went after John intentionally. He as much as said so when he went off the court. I couldn't hear exactly what he said verbatim, but that's the gist of what he said," Sloan said.

Karl Malone some things to say about Rodman's run-ins with him.

"He's got to hit me harder than that. My daughter hits harder than that," Malone taunted.

Malone, despite 7-for-25 shooting from the field, had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz.

The Spurs, trailing by as much as 30 in the third period, made a slight comeback in the final minutes of the game, but the contest was already way out of reach.

The Spurs set an NBA playoff record for fewest points in a second quarter and a franchise playoff record for fewest points in any quarter. San Antonio, shooting just 2-for-16 from the field, or 13 percent, also set Spurs playoff records for fewest field goals in a quarter and lowest field-goal percentage in a quarter.

They also set Spurs playoff records for fewest field goals made in a game (25) and lowest field-goal percentage in a game (35 percent).

The raucous second period ended with the ejection of Utah's Tom Chambers, who was nailed for a second technical.

Chambers said he watched the rest of the game on television in the Jazz locker room, where he ate hot dogs and popcorn and talked trash to the television set.

"The first game was one extreme, and the second game was exactly the other," Chambers said happily.

The Spurs continued their dismal play in the third, when the Jazz broke open a 69-39 advantage with 3:51 remaining.

San Antonio made only three field goals in that period, the first coming from Rodman with 6:28 remaining, after the Spurs had missed 25 consecutive shots.

Magic may help buy T-wolves

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Commissioner David Stern has confirmed that he had discussions with Twin Cities music producers Jimmy Jam Harris and Terry Lewis, who reportedly are interested in buying the Timberwolves and having former star Magic Johnson as a partner.

"We have been working with these people for some time," Stern said Friday through a league spokesman.

Jam and Lewis declined comment.

Johnson's agent, Lon Rosen, said Thursday that Johnson and Harris have discussed buying the Wolves but have not made an offer for the team.

"Absolutely, I can confirm he is in the look-see stage," Rosen said of Johnson.

Votes by the Minnesota House and Senate on a plan to buy the Target Center and keep the Timberwolves in Minnesota have been postponed until next week.

Robinson expected to go pro

CHICAGO - Purdue's Glenn Robinson is expected to make official tomorrow what everyone has expected. He will enter the NBA draft.

And immediately become the No. 1 pick.

"He's a franchise player," says Indiana's Donnie Walsh. "No one will be able to stop him. When Shaquille O'Neal was in college, I said the league wasn't ready for him. I feel the same way about Robinson."

With Robinson's declaration, the top five is now set with Robinson a certain No. 1, and then depending on need of the team, Duke's Grant Hill, California's Jason Kidd, Connecticut's Donyell Marshall and Michigan's Juwan Howard making up the next four.