A partial story (minus the other NBA scores) the the AP wire service:


Karl Malone's teammates are already focusing on the Mailman's next scoring milestone.

Malone scored 18 points, putting him squarely at 34,000 points in his 17-year career, as the Utah Jazz beat the Chicago Bulls 90-78 Wednesday night.

"It's crazy. He's a very great player, and I hope he gets 40,000," Andrei Kirilenko said.

Malone struggled to make it to 34,000 against the Bulls, shooting 5-for-14 and reaching the mark on a free throw with 1:27 to play.

"Milestones, I kind of like to get them over with so you can think about playing the game of basketball," Malone said. "But that's a lot of points."

Malone, 38, ranks second on the NBA's career scoring list, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387). At his current scoring average of 23.6, the Mailman might reach Abdul-Jabbar near the end of the 2003-04 season.

"I don't know what else I'd be doing right now," Malone said. "You can only hunt so much, fish so much, drop the kids off so much at school. So I choose to work, and it pays pretty decent, too."

I just wish the Mailman could contend for a title. He has had an awesome career and a title would be sweet. I'd like to see that for him and John Stockton but I think they missed their shot and neither of them is likely to see a championship but they both have Gold Medals.

I feel the same way. Last time Utah got to the Championships I was really pulling for them just so he could finally have a ring. Anybody that plays that long that well certainly deserves to have one.:)

It is sad. But do you know what, I'm sure that they will be remembered more than jsut about any other player who never won the ring. That's gotta be something. Watching Malone play is a sight. just looks like he literally OWNS the court.