Malone calls the tune as Jazz trounce woeful Knicks

Reuters, New York

Karl Malone had 21 points and Andrei Kirilenko added 20 points and nine rebounds as the Utah Jazz piled up a big lead before coasting to a 108-87 win over the struggling New York Knicks in NBA play on Tuesday.

Utah (3-5) led by as many as 30 points as the Knicks lost their seventh game in eight tries.

New York has the worst record in the Eastern Conference at 1- 7.

Matt Harpring added 19 points to the Jazz attack as Utah won for the first time in five games on the road this season.

Veteran John Stockton added 12 points and chipped in seven assists for the winners.

Clarence Weatherspoon had 17 and Lee Nailon 15 for the Knicks, who hope to have Latrell Sprewell back from his broken hand injury by the weekend.

Only the winless Memphis Grizzlies (0-8) have a worse record than the Knicks in the NBA.

In Washington, Rashard Lewis scored a career-high 37 points to offset Michael Jordan's best game of the season as the Seattle SuperSonics got past the Washington Wizards 101-95.

Jordan had a season-high 27 points for the Wizards and led a fourth quarter charge that got Washington (4-4) back to within one point before falling short.

Gary Payton added 14 points and 16 rebounds for Seattle (6-2).

He also picked up his 7,000th career assist, becoming the 11th player in NBA history to hit that milestone.

Larry Hughes had 19 points, while rookie Jared Jeffries had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Wizards.

In Indianapolis, Ron Artest had 22 points and Brad Miller added 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead the streaking Indiana Pacers to a 95-75 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Indiana is 6-1 to start a season for the first time since joining the NBA in 1976. Cleveland is now 2-6.

Darius Miles scored 19 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 17 for the Cavaliers, losers of four in a row.

In Orlando, Jerome Williams had a career-high 30 points as the injury-depleted Toronto Raptors rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat the Magic 115-109.

Alvin Williams also had a career-high 32 points for the Raptors (3-4), while Morris Peterson added 23 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

Toronto is without six players, including Vince Carter and Antonio Davis.

Tracy McGrady had 38 points for Orlando, while Grant Hill added 21 points and nine rebounds.

In Detroit, Chucky Atkins had 20 points to lead the Pistons past the New Orleans Hornets 93-87.

Jon Barry added 17 points for Detroit (6-2), while Richard Hamilton had 16 and Corliss Williamson contributed 12.

Jamal Mashburn scored 17 for New Orleans (5-2). Baron Davis added 13 points and Jamaal Magliore had 12.

In Miami, Elton Brand had 25 points and 20 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the struggling Heat 101-82, despite getting just four points from their bench.

In Houston, Steve Francis had 30 points to give the Rockets an 86-83 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

In Los Angeles, Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 26 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 95-83 win over the struggling Lakers.