SALT LAKE CITY -- Rickey Green recorded the 5 millionth point in NBA history and Karl Malone scored 36 points Monday night, leading the Utah Jazz to a 119-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Green sank a 3-point shot from the top of the key at the third-quarter buzzer to reach the milestone and give the Jazz a 92-67 lead.
The basket capped a quarter in which the Jazz outscored Cleveland 40-16.
The league office, which had set up a direct line with the scorer's table and had been calculating the points in all three NBA games Monday night, alerted the scorer's table following Green's shot, which increased the total to 5,000,001. The ball was autographed by Green and will be taken to the NBA Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.
John Stockton added 20 points and 13 assists for Utah. Thurl Bailey scored 15 points, Darrell Griffith 12 and Mel Turpin 10. Malone also had a game-high 12 rebounds.
Brad Daugherty, Mark Price and Mark West each scored 14 points to lead Cleveland.
In the third quarter, each team took 21 shots from the field, but Utah hit 15 and the Cavaliers just 5. Overall, Utah shot 59 percent from the floor to just 37 percent for Cleveland.
The NBA began the season with 4,906,649 points scored and reached 4,998,399 through games of Saturday. With an average of 215 points scored per game, NBA officials had predicted the 5 millionth point would be scored during the Cleveland at Utah or Milwaukee at Golden State game Monday.
