Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 2, 1995 TAG: 9502020064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SALT LAKE CITY LENGTH: Medium
With a pass to Karl Malone, who scored from the left corner, the Utah Jazz guard set the record with 6 minutes, 23 seconds to go before halftime in a 129-88 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
The basket gave Stockton his 9,922nd assist, putting him ahead of Magic Johnson. Stockton entered the game 11 assists shy of the mark, and he produced in less than one half the number of assists he usually gets in an entire game.
The game was stopped after the milestone assist, and crowd of some 20,000 at the Delta Center stood and cheered for several minutes. Stockton was given the game ball and the Jazz bench emptied to congratulate him.
Stockton, who has grown weary of the hoopla surrounding the record and only begrudgingly speaks of it, tied the mark 1:02 earlier, slicing to the basket and passing to Tom Chambers for a 16-foot jumper.
His record performance came in his 860th NBA game. Johnson amassed his assists total in 874 games from 1979 to 1992 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
``He's by far the best floor leader there is today,'' Johnson said of Stockton. ``He always doubted himself. That made him work harder to prove himself to himself and others.''
It took 101/2 seasons - all with Utah, and the past seven as the NBA's assists leader - for Stockton to close in on Johnson.
The 32-year-old Jazz playmaker was averaging 12.2 assists per game - up from his career norm of 11.5 - as Utah picked up a franchise-record 14th consecutive victory. Former Virginia standout Bryant Stith led Denver with 16 points.
But the Jazz, which could tie the Lakers' NBA record for consecutive road victories with a 16th tonight in Houston, also has benefited from Stockton's defense and long jumpers.
As of Wednesday night, he was sixth in the league in steals, with 2.12 per game. From 3-point territory, he was shooting at a 45 percent clip, seventh in the NBA.
Stockton overtook Oscar Robertson, who had been No.2 on the all-time assists list, by dishing out 14 scoring passes in a 111-94 victory Saturday over New Jersey.
On Monday night, he added 14 assists in a 115-80 victory over Minnesota to set the stage for Wednesday night
The Stockton-Malone combination has been the core of the Jazz offense. Malone, so often a target of Stockton's looping feeds under the basket, has taken advantage of Stockton's passing ability to become Utah's all-time scoring leader and recently became the 19th NBA player to score at least 20,000 points.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB