It seems safe to view tonight's NBA playoff game in Sacramento as the end of an era. Then again, Monday night should have been the end -- yet, true to form, Karl Malone and John Stockton refused to work on anyone's timetable other than their own.

After the first two games of their first-round Western Conference playoff series, the Utah Jazz had the look of a team plunging headlong toward being swept. The expiration date was Monday, Game 4. As usual, they didn't cooperate,
winning Game 3. Greg Ostertag had the big numbers, and previously comatose teammates Calbert Cheaney and Matt Harpring finally awoke, so they got most of the credit.