CLIPS HIT SOUR NOTE : UTAH 106, CLIPPERS 98.

Byline: Associated Press 

After shaking off a bit of All-Star rust, the Utah Jazz left the Clippers in the dust.

The Jazz outscored the Clippers 31-14 in the third quarter and then held on after a Los Angeles rally for an 106-98 win Tuesday night.

James Robinson led the Clippers with 22 points and Eric Piatkowski added 18.

``We started off the third quarter too slow,'' said Robinson, who came off the bench and played just 25 minutes. ``Utah came out hard and played hard. They got the ball to Karl Malone, to the right people and they put the ball in the hole.''

Karl Malone had 29 points and 14 rebounds, and Jeff Hornacek added 21 points as the Jazz handed the Clippers their fifth straight road loss and beat them for the 17th straight time in Salt Lake City.

``It was a nice win; not a good finish, but a nice win,'' said Malone, referring to the Clippers' partial comeback in the fourth quarter, when they outscored the Jazz reserves 28-19.

Tied at halftime at 56, Hornacek hit a 2- and a 3-pointer in the first two minutes of the third quarter to give the Jazz a 61-56 lead and start Utah on a 13-2 run over the period's first 4:17. Malone added four points to the run as the Jazz stretched its margin to 69-58.

Back-to-back jumpers by Hornacek near the four-minute mark of the quarter stretched Utah's advantage to 75-62. After Pooh Richardson scored consecutive field goals, Malone then scored seven of Utah's last nine points of the quarter to give the Jazz an 87-70 lead going into the final period.

Malone scored 13 and Hornacek 12 in the fourth quarter as the Jazz led by 11 or more points until the final seconds.

``The first and third periods we played well. The second and fourth, we didn't,'' Hornacek said. ``It was just a matter of getting back at it. We were a little off because of the layoff. The young guys might have gotten a little rusty over the weekend. But everyone will be fine the next game.''

Lamond Murray scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Richardson finished with 13 points in a reserve role, but the Clippers were outrebounded by the Jazz 62-47 and shot just 41.5 percent for the game (34-82).

The Clippers were down 30-20 at the end of one quarter, but outscored the Jazz 36-26 in the second period. Murray scored 10 in the second period, and Robinson, Piatkowski and Rodney Rogers each added six. The Clippers pulled even with Utah at intermission, despite shooting 38 percent for the half.