Salt Lake City ? If it was goodbye for Utah’s John Stockton and Karl Malone, the Sacramento Kings made sure it wasn’t a happy one.

Peja Stojakovic scored 15 of his 27 points in the third quarter as the Kings turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 99-82 win over the Jazz Monday. That gave Sacramento a 3-1 lead in the opening-round series.

Chris Webber had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Kings, who may be the last team to beat Stockton and Malone in Salt Lake City if the 41-year-old Stockton retires and Malone leaves as a free agent.

Both Stockton and Malone will decide their futures when the season ends, which will be soon if the Jazz can’t pull a surprise in Wednesday’s Game 5 in Sacramento.

Two days after a gritty win got them back into the series, the older and slower Jazz couldn’t keep up with the Kings in the second half.

Malone led the Jazz with 24 points. Stockton had 12 points and seven assists, and Greg Ostertag had 14 rebounds for Utah, which has been knocked out of the playoffs in the first round the last two seasons.

The Kings beat Utah in the opening round a year ago and looked ready to repeat the feat after Monday night’s performance in the second half.

Sacramento was just 17-for-50 from the field in the first half and trailed 41-37 despite causing 14 turnovers. But the Kings started hitting shots from everywhere in the third quarter and quickly turned the game into a runaway.

Sacramento guard Doug Christie (13) dunks over Utah Jazz center Greg Ostertag, a Kansas University product. The Kings won their NBA playoff game Monday in Salt Lake City.

Stojakovic hit his second straight three-pointer to tie the game at 47, then put back his own offensive rebound to give the Kings their first lead since late in the first quarter. The Jazz struggled with just three field goals in the first 71¼2 minutes of the third quarter as the Kings began to pull away.

The Jazz got to 59-57 on two free throws by Malone with 3:10 left in the third period, then the Kings went on a 14-2 run to close the quarter. Sacramento was 15-for-25 from the floor in the period, getting a few easy layups off fast breaks and three 3-pointers from Stojakovic. The Kings didn’t allow the Jazz to get closer than nine the rest of the way.

Mike Bibby scored 11 points, and Jim Jackson added 10 for the Kings.

Matt Harpring scored 18 points, and Andrei Kirilenko finished with 15 for the Jazz.

Notes: There were five technical fouls in the game, including Utah coach Jerry Sloan’s third in two games. … Masters champion Mike Weir, who lives in suburban Salt Lake City, got a standing ovation during a timeout and was given a ball by Jazz owner Larry Miller. … Sloan finished third in voting for NBA coach of the year Monday behind winner Gregg Popovich of San Antonio and Eric Musselman of Golden State. Sacramento’s Rick Adelman was fifth. … Vlade Divac shaved his trademark beard for the first time in the playoffs.