DALLAS, April 7 (AP) -- With the Utah Jazz struggling in a game with playoff seeding implications, Karl Malone took control.

|

28k

ISDN+

Dallas' Michael Finley tries to beat Utah's Bryon Russell to a loose ball. AP Photos

NBA.com TV highlights:

Malone scored 11 of his 31 points in the third quarter and finished with 11 rebounds as the Utah Jazz beat the Dallas Mavericks 116-103 Saturday night.

"This gives us some momentum going into the playoffs," Malone said. "When we play Jazz basketball, it's hard for anyone to beat us."

With the win, the Jazz ended a seven-game losing streak against teams in contention for a playoff berth.

Trailing 42-37, the Jazz went on a 19-0 run that started in the final three minutes of the first half and continued until 9:48 in the third quarter. A short jumper by Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki ended Utah's run.

The Jazz controlled the game from that point. Malone and forward Donyell Marshall combined for 21 of Utah's 36 third-quarter points.

Marshall scored 21 points and John Stockton had 15 points and 13 assists.

"The way we've been playing, we needed a game like this," Malone said. "We needed to get back to playing a solid game."

The Jazz moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Western Conference, surging past the Mavericks (49-27) in the battle for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

The teams traded elbows and hard fouls throughout, resuming their physical battle of March 26, when the Mavericks won 98-90 in Utah in a game that included six technicals and two flagrant fouls.

In the first eight minutes Saturday, there were two flagrant fouls and two technicals.

The Mavericks matched the Jazz's rough style, but struggled at both ends of the court against the Utah's guards.

Utah shooting guard Bryon Russell had 18 points and his backup, John Starks, added 16.

"The way we've been playing, we needed a game like this. We needed to get back to playing a solid game." -- Karl Malone

"We got taught a good old-fashioned lesson tonight," Mavericks coach Don Nelson said. "They outplayed us in almost every aspect of the game. They took control of the game and kept it.

"This is a playoff type game and all of these games have been lately."

Nelson pleaded with his team at halftime not play soft, but the Jazz turned up their defensive pressure in the second half, forcing the Mavericks into 10 third-quarter turnovers. Michael Finley and Steve Nash combined for 11 of the Mavericks' 23 turnovers.

"I'm always amazed (at the Mavericks turnovers) because they are a great ball-handling team," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "We just happened to be a little bit lucky and they turned it over."

Juwan Howard finished with 24 points and four rebounds for Dallas. Nowitzki added 22 points and nine rebounds.

Notes: Wang Zhizhi, the first NBA player born in China, played the last 1:03 and was scoreless. The 7-foot-1 center had six points and three rebounds in his eight-minute debut Thursday against Atlanta. ... Wang's No. 16 jersey goes on sale Wednesday at Reunion Arena. ... In their last two games, the Mavs and Jazz have been whistled for eight technicals and four flagrant fouls. ... The Jazz, 6-14 against the Western Conference's top five teams, ended a seven-game losing streak against playoff-bound opponents. ... Home-court advantage doesn't mean much in the four-game Mavs-Jazz series. Both teams won the two road games.