76ers 97, Jazz 91

Wednesday, December 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) â€” Aaron McKie stepped in for injured Allen Iverson, scoring a season-high 24 points as the Philadelphia 76ers beat the Utah Jazz 97-91 Tuesday night, ending a 13-year losing streak in Utah.

Iverson partially dislocated his right shoulder in Friday's game against the New York Knicks and will miss 1-to-3 weeks.

But the Sixers made up for the loss of Iverson's flashy scoring with a solid 56 percent shooting through three quarters. Toni Kukoc added 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range while Tyrone Hill and Theo Ratliff each scored 13.

John Stockton led the Jazz with 19 points and 12 assists but Utah was doomed by 45 percent shooting and a 36-29 rebounding disadvantage.

Bryon Russell scored 17 points, John Starks had 14 and Danny Manning 13 for the Jazz. Karl Malone scored 12 and had five rebounds, well below his averages of 23.4 points and 9.3 rebounds.

Philadelphia went ahead by double figures about 10 minutes before halftime and never let the lead slip below 10 points until Stockton hit a 3-pointer with 3:44 to play, cutting Utah's deficit to 90-81.

Russell added another 3-pointer with 2:58 remaining, but Hill scored four straight and McKie added two free throws to extend the lead to 96-86 with 1:05 to play, and the Sixers ran out the clock from there.

The Philadelphia lineup looked like it was held together by duct tape.

Kevin Ollie, who was waived by New Jersey on Dec. 15, started in place of Eric Snow, out after surgery to repair a broken right ankle. Rodney Buford, signed last week, stepped in for Pepe Sanchez, out with a sore hip.

The Sixers also played without Matt Geiger, who didn't dress because of a sore right knee, and Speedy Claxton, who's recovering from surgery to repair a torn left knee ligament.

And yet the Jazz, who trailed all night, struggled to find a winning formula. Utah shot 36 percent in the first half. While Utah heated up in the fourth quarter, Malone had only four points in the second half.

In last week's 91-89 victory at Philadelphia, Malone scored 41, including 13 in the fourth quarter.

Notes: Iverson has missed 20 games to injuries and three to suspensions during his five NBA seasons. The Sixers are 10-13 in those games. ... Russell took a finger in the eye from McKie late in the third. He went to the locker room and a physician was paged, but Russell soon returned to the bench and was back in action in the fourth. ... Stockton shot the 4,999th free throw of his 17-year career. ... The Sixers opened a three-game road trip and extended their road winning streak to five games.