Jeff Malone

Maybe, Jeff Malone was afraid he was in danger of losing his job as the shooting guard for the Washington Bullets to red-hot Leon Wood. As Wood, the former Cal State Fullerton star, finally cooled off, Malone put on a display of shooting Sunday at Landover, Md., to lead the Bullets to a 112-98 victory over the Chicago Bulls. After shooting better than 50% in his first five games as a Bullet, Wood was 0-for-8 against the Bulls. Malone easily took up the slack.

Jeff Malone's 18-foot shot from the corner with 12 seconds to play squelched a remarkable rally by the Denver Nuggets and gave the Utah Jazz a 96-95 victory Tuesday night at Denver. The Jazz led in the final minute, 94-86, but Rodney Rogers made three three-point baskets in 8.8 seconds, giving the Nuggets a 95-94 lead with 20 seconds remaining. Denver stole two inbounds passes by Karl Malone, leading to the second and third of Rogers' three-pointers.

It's simple math, really: Malone to the second power. Karl Malone is the All-NBA power forward who glides the court like a guard. Jeff Malone is the veteran shooting guard the Utah Jazz acquired from the Washington Bullets in the off-season to give outside support to the mostly inside game of his namesake. Their chemistry offers problems too tough for NBA scientists to solve.

Tom Chambers scored 20 points and Karl Malone added 19 as the Utah Jazz handed the Dallas Mavericks their 26th loss in 28 games, 115-85, Monday night. The victory was Utah's fifth straight, ninth in its last 10 games and 10th straight at home. Jim Jackson led the Mavericks with 23 points, and Jamal Mashburn added 20 points and nine rebounds as Dallas dropped its third game to the Jazz this season.

Jeff Malone, whose drifting, off-balance jump shots perplexed the Seattle SuperSonics all night, made two baskets and two free throws in the final 1:04 as the Jazz held off Seattle, 103-97, Friday night for a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. "Right now I'm playing as well as I have in my career. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm shooting the ball well," Malone said after scoring 33 points on 13-for-21 shooting as Utah improved to 42-4 at the Delta Center.

The Clippers managed to lose to the Washington Bullets, 101-96, on a night when Moses Malone didn't score a basket. They managed this difficult feat Wednesday night before a crowd of 6,852 at the Sports Arena, failing to maintain a 74-69 lead in the third quarter. "I'm not disappointed; I'm mad because we had so many opportunities to win," Clipper rookie swingman Reggie Williams said.

A three-way NBA deal Monday began with the Washington Bullets trading guard Jeff Malone and a draft pick to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for center Pervis Ellison. The Kings then traded Malone and a draft pick to the Utah Jazz for Bobby Hansen, Eric Leckner and two draft picks. The Kings received a second-round pick in 1991 from the Bullets and the two choices from the Jazz are in Wednesday's draft--the 23rd, a first-rounder, and 49th.

Guard Jeff Malone, a two-time National Basketball Assn. All-Star, has agreed to a three-year, $2.9-million contract extension with the Washington Bullets.

The Utah Jazz signed guard Jeff Malone, the team's No. 2 scorer, to a five-year contract reportedly worth about $2 million a year. Malone earned $916,000 last year and became a restricted free agent at the end of last season. If he had accepted an offer from another NBA team, the Jazz would have had the opportunity to match it. Malone, 30, averaged 18.6 points a game on 50.

Karl Malone was furious. And when a man with biceps the size of Malone's is angry, you'd better take cover. Angry after being called for a questionable foul on Clipper center James Edwards late in the third quarter of Sunday's NBA playoff game against the Clippers, Malone took out his frustration by pounding his fist on a padded press table, destroying a TV microphone. Malone, who drew a technical foul, will gladly pay the automatic $100 fine.

The New York Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals with a 109-100 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night at Indianapolis as Doc Rivers made three three-point shots in overtime. The Knicks, who won the best-of-five series, 3-1, will play the Charlotte Hornets in the opening game of the conference semifinals at New York on Sunday. The Pacers are 0-6 in postseason series. New York overcame a 33-point effort by Reggie Miller, who had 126 points in the four games.

Sherman Douglas made an off-balance 15-foot shot with three-tenths of a second to play Thursday night, lifting the Boston Celtics to a 106-105 victory over the New Jersey Nets at East Rutherford, N.J. The Nets, who have lost their last seven games, missed seven of 10 free throws down the stretch.

Michael Adams was light-headed because of flu, but that didn't prevent him from making two three-pointers during a fourth-quarter surge to lead the Washington Bullets past the New Jersey Nets, 97-92, at Landover, Md., on Monday night. The Bullets, already without injured center Pervis Ellison, had to play without rookie Tom Gugliotta and guard Rex Chapman, both of whom also had flu. Adams scored 22 points in 39 minutes. "I was a little light-headed . . .

Bouncing back from one of the worst performances of his career, Karl Malone beat up on the worst team in the league. Malone poured in 36 points Monday night at Dallas as the Utah Jazz cruised to a 109-96 victory over the Mavericks, extending the Mavericks' club-record losing streak to 19 games. If the Mavericks lose to Orlando at Dallas Wednesday night, they will tie the NBA record for consecutive defeats in one season held by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers.

It would be hard enough for the Utah Jazz to beat the streaking Houston Rockets at full strength. But without Karl Malone, forget it. Malone was ejected from Saturday night's game in Houston with 9:15 left to play for cursing at official Jack Madden after a foul was called on Utah's Larry Krystkowiak. The Jazz was ahead by a point at the time, but the Rockets immediately took the lead and went on to take the win, 104-95, for their 13th consecutive victory and 26th in their last 31 games.

With 32 seconds to play in the first half at the Delta Center on Saturday night, Utah Coach Jerry Sloan was ejected for consecutive technicals. Maybe it was motivation for the Jazz. Or maybe it was simply a good time to disappear. "I don't know if any coach wants to get kicked out of a game," said his Clipper counterpart, Larry Brown. "Unless it was me in the last five minutes." By then, the game had taken a dramatic turn.

Bernard King scored 28 points and Jeff Malone added 23 Sunday to lead Washington to a 130-113 victory over the Sacramento Kings at Landover, Md., giving the Bullets their fourth win in five games under new Coach Wes Unseld. Frank Johnson contributed a season-high 20 points and Moses Malone added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Bullets (12-20). Otis Thorpe tied his season high with 33 points and Reggie Theus added 24 for the Kings (9-26).

Now that its road losing streak is history, the Utah Jazz is ready to make a little playoff history. The Jazz got its first playoff road victory in more than a year Tuesday night, an 89-83 defeat of Seattle, and are one victory from getting into the Western Conference final for the first time. Jeff Malone scored 24 points and Karl Malone 22, and Tyrone Corbin made six crucial free throws in the final minute Tuesday night as the Jazz took a 3-1 lead in their conference semifinal series.

Jeff Malone, whose drifting, off-balance jump shots perplexed the Seattle SuperSonics all night, made two baskets and two free throws in the final 1:04 as the Jazz held off Seattle, 103-97, Friday night for a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series. "Right now I'm playing as well as I have in my career. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm shooting the ball well," Malone said after scoring 33 points on 13-for-21 shooting as Utah improved to 42-4 at the Delta Center.