Mailman Wants to Put His Stamp on Game 4

HOUSTON — Special delivery from the Mailman.

“In Game 4,” Karl Malone said Saturday, “I want more touches.”

He wants the ball more today, when the Utah Jazz takes a 2-1 lead over the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals into the Summit.

“You can rest me in the summer,” Malone said.

The Jazz, of course, had no intention of giving him a night off Friday. It just worked out that Malone got only 14 shots, eight fewer than his playoff average, because John Stockton was picking apart the Rockets with jump shots off the pick and roll, taking 19 shots in all.

A day later, though, Malone, the league most valuable player, was all but demanding the ball. This wasn’t so much about hogging the ball as it was about wanting to step forward, no doubt aware that Utah’s only two postseason losses came in games when he (a) didn’t get many opportunities or (b) pretty much wasted all of them, going two for 20 against the Lakers in Game 3 of the conference semifinals.

“I never the question the plays we run,” Malone said. “But it’s the playoffs now.”

All the same, he has no intention of going so far as to talk to Coach Jerry Sloan or Stockton, the point guard, about, uh, not questioning. Maybe because they don’t need to be told.

“I’ve got a real good feeling it’ll be different [today],” Malone said.

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The NBA, having interviewed all the parties over the last several days and repeatedly watched the tape, apparently will not fine Stockton for elbowing Houston guard Matt Maloney in the nose in the final minute of Game 2 because league officials could not say definitively whether the blow was intentional.

Stockton, meanwhile, could say it was a little disappointing that he could even be suspected of such a thing.

“I think they should know me better,” he said.

Pardon the Rockets while they muffle a laugh. They’ve only spent the better part of this series calling Stockton, and the Jazz in general, dirty. Most of the attention in that area was directed at moving screens, especially by the Utah guards to spring Malone free on the post, prompting the Rockets to compile a tape of evidence and send it to the league office. The Maloney incident only was the most painful example.

“I’m sorry my nose hit his elbow,” Maloney said.

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The Lakers are gone but not forgotten.

They had been the only team to beat the Jazz in the playoffs, before the Rockets’ 118-100 victory Friday. Utah responded to that by winning the next two games and the series, so the questions came Saturday as to whether the events this week would provide a similar catapult.

“Obviously, the Lakers didn’t send tapes in, so it’s a little different,” Malone said.

Said Houston’s Charles Barkley: “We’re not the Lakers. We try to use our brains.”

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NBC announcer Marv Albert made no mention of the assault charges he faces during Saturday’s telecast of the Bulls’ 98-74 victory over Miami. “I’m just focusing on the game,” he said before the game.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.