NBA Roundup : Heat Drops to 0-15, Ties League Record

Some people might be wondering whether the Miami Heat will win a National Basketball Assn. game before it plays host to the All-Star game next season.

The first-year team tied a league record for futility when it lost to the Denver Nuggets, 121-110, Friday night at Miami. The Heat (0-15) can break the record tonight when it plays the Bulls at Chicago.

A different Denver Nuggets franchise (1949), the Cleveland Cavaliers (1970) and the Philadelphia 76ers (1972) also opened with 15 defeats. The Cavaliers and Nuggets were also in their first seasons.

Another near-capacity crowd of 14,812 at Miami Arena cheered when the Heat rallied early in the fourth quarter.

The Heat cut a 20-point deficit to 90-84, but long-range sharpshooter Michael Adams spoiled the comeback by hitting 2 3-point baskets in a row.

Coach Ron Rothstein took the loss in stride. “As I’ve said before, what difference does it make, if it gets us where we’re going down the road?”

Boston 121, Philadelphia 107--Danny Ainge made 20 of 29 shots and scored a career-high 45 points to lift the Celtics past the 76ers at Boston.

The Celtics, ending a 3-game losing streak, took the lead after 3 minutes and never let up.

“I just felt hot,” Ainge said. “Hey, I just felt good.”

Charlotte 96, New Jersey 95--The Hornets, the other expansion team, is faring considerably better than the Heat. With Kelly Tripucka scoring 30 points at Charlotte, the Hornets won for the fifth time in 16 games.

Tripucka, who has regained his shooting touch as the star of the new club, helped the Hornets build a 77-60 lead before the Nets, losers of 6 in a row, rallied to make it close.

Detroit 92, Atlanta 82--Joe Dumars scored 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter at Atlanta to trigger a surge that carried the Pistons to victory.

It was a rough defensive struggle in which the teams brawled after Glenn Rivers of Atlanta and Dumars collided during the third period. Rivers and Detroit’s Bill Laimbeer were hit with technicals.

In a poorly played first half, Detroit (15-4) outscored Atlanta, 39-38.

The Pistons’ Isiah Thomas made 5 of 19 shots; the Hawks’ Moses Malone was 4 for 13, and Dominique Wilkins was 7 for 19.

Dallas 97, Utah 89--The Jazz, playing without Frank Layden, who retired as coach Friday, had its lowest output of the season in this game at Salt Lake City and fell out of first place in the Midwest Division.

Rolando Blackman scored 22 points as the Mavericks (11-6) spoiled the Jazz coaching debut of Jerry Sloan. The Jazz had won 9 in a row at home.

Chicago 118, Milwaukee 100--Michael Jordan scored 9 of his 35 points during a 25-13 spurt in the second quarter at Chicago to lead the Bulls past the Bucks.

Jordan, who was 4 for 16 and scored only 18 points against the Pistons Wednesday night, made 10 of 17 shots and had 11 rebounds against the Bucks.

Indiana 112, Sacramento 105--The Pacers, who lost their first 9 games, evened their record under interim coach George Irvine at 4-4 with a victory at Indianapolis.

Chuck Person and Herb Williams each scored 25 points for the Pacers.

Phoenix 110, Golden State 105--Eddie Johnson came off the bench to score 8 points in the last 4 minutes and give the Suns their fifth straight victory at home.

Chris Mullin scored 27 points, but none in the fourth quarter, for the Warriors, who have lost their last 5 on the road.

Portland 93, Washington 90--Another superb performance by Kevin Duckworth enabled the Trail Blazers to hold off the Bullets at Portland.

Duckworth had 24 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.

The Bullets rallied to tie the score, 90-90, with 93 seconds left but didn’t score again.