PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE

Monday, May 26, 1997

Rockets win one at the buzzer, 95-92

By CHRIS SHERIDAN

Associated Press

HOUSTON - The weekend of Eddie Johnson is over, and the Houston Rockets came out of it with a renewed shot at an NBA championship.

Johnson was the hero for Houston once again Sunday, barely beating the final buzzer with a high-arching 3-point shot from 25 feet that gave the Rockets a dramatic 95-92 victory over the Utah Jazz to tie the Western Conference finals at two games apiece.

The 3-pointer was the only basket of the second half for Johnson, the hero of Game 3 when he came off the bench to score 31 points. Sunday's game-winning shot left his fingertips with just 0.2 seconds left, and he high-stepped to the other end of the court and was mobbed by his teammates after it swished through.

"When it left my hand it felt good," Johnson said. "I had a great look at the basket and my form was right there. So I knew I had a chance, and maybe halfway through the shot I said: 'That baby's got a chance to go in.' After that it's blurry."

Johnson was 2 for 5 Sunday for seven points, a far cry from his 12 for 17 effort in Game 3.

"It's amazing. It's definitely the best situation I've been in and the biggest shot I've ever hit."

Game 5 is Tuesday night in Salt Lake City, where the Jazz have won 21 straight games. They'll try to grab the momentum back from the Rockets, who are trying to come back from an 0-2 deficit for the third time in their history. The first two times they did it - 1994 and 1995 - they won NBA championships.

Hakeem Olajuwon scored 27 points for Houston, while Charles Barkley had 20 points and 16 rebounds and Clyde Drexler scored 16 points.

John Stockton and Karl Malone scored 22 points apiece for Utah, but the similarities between their performances ended there. Stockton shot 9 for 12 from the field and had eight assists, while Malone was just 10 for 28 and made several mistakes over the final few minutes.

Malone, after missing four of his first five shots of the fourth quarter and committing two turnovers on his two previous touches, hit a turnaround jumper over Barkley to tie the game at 92 with 1:08 left.

Utah center Greg Foster, who had been dominated all game by Olajuwon, then made his first good defensive play of the afternoon when he knocked the ball out of Olajuwon's hands.

Utah recovered the loose ball and ran the shot clock down, but Stockton missed an open 16-foot jumper and Foster missed two tips. Malone grabbed the offensive rebound and nearly threw it away again before the Jazz reset and swung the ball to the right corner for a 3-point attempt by Russell.

The shot was long, and Barkley rebounded with 6.7 seconds left to set up the final play.

Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said the final play was designed to go to Olajuwon, who had asked to take the shot in the timeout huddle proceeding the play.

"But Utah wasn't going to allow that because it's an automatic layup or two free throws," Johnson said.

Drexler got stuck in a double-team after the ball was inbounded. He got it to Matt Maloney, who passed to Johnson just in time for him to get the shot off.

"That's why they call him Fast Eddie. As soon as the ball left his hand I knew it was going in," Tomjanovich said.

Utah coach Jerry Sloan was mad at his team for leaving Johnson open.

"I hope we now know who Eddie Johnson is," Sloan said. "How can you go off and double-team the ball and leave him open. I don't understand how you leave a guy shooting the ball that well all alone. It was a tough shot, but he makes them."

Johnson's 3-pointer ended what was easily the most tightly contested - and possibly the most contentious - game of the series.

Stirring things up the most was Barkley, who on Saturday had questioned the sense of urgency his team was showing.

"I'm very proud of my team," Barkley said after Game 4. "We played with the sense of urgency we needed. We're two games away from the finals or two games away from vacation, and that team wants to go to the finals as bad as I do. It's going to go to the team that wants it the most."

Barkley gave Houston an 85-82 lead midway though the fourth quarter after he deliberately flopped to the floor when Malone ran into him in transition.

"I said something to him that I knew would upset him," Barkley said. "And when I was running back down the court I knew he was going to hit me. I almost hurt myself I flopped so hard."

Barkley unabashedly laughed at what he had gotten away with, then rubbed it in even more by clapping his hands in Sloan's face after the referees changed a foul call to a 24-second violation.

Sloan was livid, but it was only the latest episode of Barkley getting in someone's head. He may have done the same thing to Malone by taunting him throughout the game.

"That's just talk," Malone said. "I don't pay any attention to that. I go play the games and let other guys say whatever they want to say."

The Jazz built a seven-point lead midway through the second quarter and settled for a 53-48 halftime edge despite the 6-for-15 shooting of Malone.

The lead again grew to seven points in the third quarter, but Houston came back with 17-3 run, with Barkley, Drexler and Olajuwon scoring 14 of the points, to take a 73-66 lead.

It was shortlived, however, because Utah came right back with a 10-2 run, including two 3-pointers by Russell, to give the Jazz a 76-75 lead going into the fourth.

The game then stayed tight with five lead changes and three ties in the first 11 minutes of the fourth quarter. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: