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Show ps_* The Salt Lake Tribune SPORTS Friday, May28, 1999 Sabres Take 2-1 Lead Over Toronto falo lead. After Joseph had made a terrific pad save onBrian Holzinger in ront, Barnes chopped in the rebound before the defense could react. It was his fourth power- gave the Sabres at least e and turned Hasek into a Tomas Kaberlegave away the puck in front of the goal. heerleader, Alexander Karpoytsev A hooking penalty to James Patrick just 22 sec- TURNER CU NALS Pesto 7 Houston +s. Orlando Suady, Hay 23 Tyrsday, May 25 irs tied 1 May 27 and 1 Houston fads onds later seemed to spark the Sabres and their sparkplug captain, Mi- chaelPeca. center, Buffalo's leadingscorerin the playoffs but held with- out a shot in thefirst two games after playing a doz- engamesagainstthree 6-4 centers, finally came alive. Pecascooped upa loose puckat center ice, crossed the Toronto line and unleashed a hard drive that hit a stick in front of Joseph. The puck then ricocheted off the goalie’s right skate out in front to rebound and his shot ing to hand Hasek his goalie stick the unguarded CONFERENCE FINALS @ Continued from D-1 ‘Theydid a tremendousjob,” he said of his opponent. “They had our number fromthe start of this put upa tremendousbattle...” “One of the things I'm most proudof is, we always come back wealwaysfight back. Our guysjust weren't good enough to do it. ‘Championships are what you canbrag about. We don’t have any rings. But the abilityto comeback. these guys have been special to emptynet at 3:45 It was a stunning turn. around, and it wasn't over Barnes scored on a power playat 7:38 for a 3-1 Buf. ‘Saturday, June 8 Colorado at Dallas 9 ad, 5 *Priday, Jone t (Colorado at Dalla F Hornacek, who answered inquibout the Jazz's sub-par performance Thursday night and throughout the playoffs —in Game were outrebounded by Portland by 13 — whisperedto reporters as he explained that the Jazz's downward spiral hit long before Thursday night, long before the series against the Blazers. or 20 years old anymore, but [we] and heflippedit into the them.” 6 they shot just 38 percent and for us. Some of our guys aren't 19 Juneau Three doesn't have life left in them,” said Adam Keefe, speaking of Stockton, Malone and Hornacek. although hesaid, “I could becritical about alot of things series. Theywere a little too much WESTERN CONF Balas oleate “J don't know which of the Big stronger, more energetic Blazers. In the aftermath, Jazz CoachJer- ry Sloan chose to credit the Blazers rather than question his ownteam, ‘Saturday, May 29 Houston at Orlando, 5 “Toes. ee Houston at Orlando p “Thurs teeta In the postgame locker room, theytried to find hope somewhere in the future. They have a lot of life left in Buffalo defensemanRich- __NiilPLAYO) PorepayOpprates r Ptfalo bof 7 Goalies Toronto J saves) Haffalo, Hasek 04) Referees —Kerty Pres Sly — 16 395 18 595 Monson: Jazz Fall Short in Six ard Smehlik as he was try- cult to keep up with the younger, _____IHPLAYOFFS defenseman 5-foot-11 the Maple man goalin all zoomedin off a skate of 13of their playoff games, The stick Leafs serambl led for con- play goal of the series, trol. Karpovtsev got the @ Continued from D-1 oven Buffalo pulled the Maple Leafs within a goal, scoring on a Toronto power play at 13:09. Hasek made a nice tial shot but work with.” Indeed, there are norings. But there are many questions about what might happen with andtothe Jazz now “Wehaven't played well for 20 games,” he said. “We never could get it going in the playoffs. We were there, we had somechances, but we didn't shoot the ball well. Wedidn’t playourbest.” Hornacek’s mood brightened as heconsidered next season, though “I think we'll be back for another run. There will be some changes, but it’s not timeto panic. I think the majority of the guys will be back. Next year will be different. I'moptimistic. I don’t see why not.” Still, even Hornacek, no one, really, had answers for why the Jazz did notplay their best through the most important part of the '99 season. No one had answers why the Jazz wereable to hold the Blaz- ers to 40-percent shooting Thurs- day night, but could not muster enough at theoffensive end to take advantage, the way the Jazz sofrequently have withall of their effi- ciencyin the past Noonehad answers for why MaIone, onthis night, couldnotdeliv- er. Or whythe bench could only contribute 17 points while Portland got30 from its reserves. Asitis, the dreamof a championship forthe Jazz andtheir fans is on hold, and in doubt. Maybe the veteran [old] guys will come back strong. Maybe they will benefit from a regular season spread out over six months. Maybethey have one morerun at title in them. Maybe the coreof the supporting erew will also return. And maybethey will all just be oneyearolder. There are no rings. Is their hope? ‘he Jazz and their fans must live with that, must wonder ultimately, let it be. But the sealle of so many missed opportunities, in tandemwith the serious questions about what might come now, about whether the guy ) always come back can again, about the future of Ja ketball, are burdens tocarry A heavy, heavy load to bear. Big Three Vow to Continue Their NBA Careers @ Continued from D-1 another run at a championship ring. Hornacek, who has battled knee problemsthelast fewyears, didn't showanysigns of slowing downat the tail end of his 12th season. He shot 5-for-10 from thefield, hauled in six reboundsandfinished with a playoff-high 21 points In addition, he used his 36-yearold frame to body up totaller, Eee aba Er slg Core boU iyrd sont younger and more athletic Blazer opponents. He started on Isaiah Rider and held himto five field goals. Rider's 24 points came mostly on his dead-eye free-throw shooting downthestretch CRUE Pea Pe) aNeeaia Stockton played a solid 35 minutes, scoring 14 points, handing out 10 assists andhaving just two turn CeCe aaele site CreuCie: EanMIDTo ca] a when ordered by cust s overs, “All of our guys will be back. Hornacek said emphatically. “It's beengoodforusthelast fewyears Sure,it’s disappointing to loselike this, but you have to realizeit’s ex tradifficult to be the top team that everybodyis gunning for Hornacek. who hasindicated he would sign a new contract, assum- ing that Stockton and Malone do also, was discouraged that the Jazz did not display their best basketball in the playoffs — or down the stretch in the regular season “We'restill good enoughto win it all, but in our last 20 games, we were not a good team. And we weren't a good teamin the playoffs.” Homacek added, “You can't shoot 38 or 39 percentin the playoffs and expect to win.” Utah shot 38.2 percent for the game, but was only 13-for-38 (342) in the second half and 6-for-16 (375) in the When you buy a DIRECTV System and activate gramming. Total Choice’ pro SCLgtr Ss ee UT eet Wa| feegmacy Coe i Re Reecls Pick ar bce retakeaki201; Pm aeel|es Pra tage Gasee Digital quality picturesé, sound. fourth quarter Bisleymae) Jazz shooting guard nfazed at facing tall er Blazer de Even our interactive onsscreen menuis entertainment CO ae caf ders — remember. thelast two years, he was defended by Michael Jordanin the Finals — said it was notime for panic within the team “There will be no dis mantling of this "YEAH. TO THE NEAREST RETAILER’ team. You'll hear talk of age, but that’s nothing new A few wee we won 11 games in a row with age \\ Sloan was on the same page Asked if it was the end of a Jazz era, he said, We've been answer hinted that he long as Stockton tion that has been good to its per sonnel: “I fe l that everybody on this team will be back As for me, I don't worry about that stuff. Right now, I wan to see world It will bear © offseason. Ma lone. Stockton. Hornacek and Shandon Anderson are the Jazz producers who have to be re signed. The cts of Greg Fos ter, Todd I nd Thur! Baitey are also uy newal The big qu jon will be Stock d soul of this team ton, the hea the vet who brought the Jazz back f 1 the brink of a first half blowout and led them on a 17 1 runin the second quarter. His body is banged up, but everything suggests he wants to make one morerun It will be an interesting summer of negotiatior little early by of Blarers me brought on a nger generation Recto cialis Sloan, who has will be aroundas and Malone are in Jaz uniforms, said heworks for a great ot Meamc eeeeeRed RAULumeserToes NO LONG TERM COMMITMENTS DIRECTY, Dade ete ae se EaRE,cy ing that question for six years Those who ask don't know who JohnStockton 1s or who Karl Ma loneis. We may bea step slower but we'll haveto wait and see what happens. We'll still have a pretty good basketball team in the fu ture AMERICA'S #1 www.directv.com SEE A DEMO TODAY AT YOUR FAVORITE RETAILER. |
