Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak says it so naturally, several words blending into one, and that word rolling off his tongue . . .
"StocktonMalone," Kupchak says with the fluidity of a perfect pick-and-roll.

That one word says it all, doesn't it?

You couldn't have one without the other. John Stockton without Karl Malone would be like Pat Summerall without John Madden, which tells us that, yes, eventually StocktonMalone will be separated.

But not yet.

And so tonight Utah's most sensible marriage plays the Pyramid: the 6-1, 175-pound point guard and the 6-9, 256-pound power forward.

"Those guys were a fit for each other," says Grizzlies center Ike Austin.

Still are. Stockton's in his 18th season in Utah, Malone his 17th. Till nursing homes do us part?

"When you think of two guys together, those are the guys," says Clippers guard Eric Piatkowski. "And obviously, you think of the pick and roll. They run it so well, teams know they're going to do it, and they're still successful with it."