NBA Roundup : Jackson’s Layup Helps Knicks Defeat Pistons

Mark Jackson wants to be the man who decides a game at the end, even when he is not playing well.

Jackson, who made only 6 of 23 shots Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, hit a driving layup with 32 seconds left to give New York the lead, and the Knicks won their ninth consecutive home game with an 88-85 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

“It wasn’t a great night shooting for me, but when it came down to crunch time, I wanted the ball,” Jackson said. “Great players take over in those situations, and I want to be a great player. Even when he was 5 for 22 from the field, he still went in there and tried to score,” Knick Coach Rick Pitino said. “It reflects the confidence we have in him. Although he missed a lot of shots, he took maybe one bad shot.”

The Knicks, 12-1 at Madison Square Garden, were 32 points under their average per game. Detroit shot 41.7% from the field and New York 39%.

Jackson led the Knicks with 15 points, and Charles Oakley had 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Portland 117, Golden State 109--Clyde Drexler had 38 points and Terry Porter scored 12 of his 25 in the fourth quarter as the Trail Blazers lost most of a 28-point lead before outlasting the Warriors at Oakland.

The Trail Blazers appeared headed for an easy victory as they pulled away from an 8-3 deficit with a 41-8 run, giving them a 44-16 lead with 9:17 left in the first half.

With Larry Smith scoring 11 points in the third period, the Warriors closed to within 85-78 after three quarters.

Golden State, which got 23 points and 9 assists from Chris Mullin, trailed only 90-88 with 8:31 left and 107-104 with 2:12 remaining.

But Porter capitalized on an illegal defense technical, Drexler dunked and Porter scored on a breakaway to make it 112-104 with 1:02 left.

The Trail Blazers lost forward Jerome Kersey to a fractured nose suffered when he was hit by the ball in the second quarter.

Phoenix 126, Denver 118--The Suns snapped their 10-game losing streak at Denver as Jeff Hornacek scored 24 points, 10 of them in the decisive fourth quarter.

The Suns had not won at McNichols Arena since April 8, 1984. It was the third road victory this season for the Suns.

Phoenix’s balanced offense included Eddie Johnson and Kevin Johnson with 23 points each, and Tom Chambers and Armon Gilliam with 22 apiece.

The Nuggets trailed most of the game but rallied to tie, 97-97, at the end of three quarters. The Suns countered with a 10-0 run to open the fourth quarter, with Hornacek scoring 6 of them.

Alex English led Denver with 34 points.