NBA ROUNDUP : Portland Saves Trip, Wins in 3 Overtimes

It had been a difficult trip for the Portland Trail Blazers, and things didn’t look good for the last game of the four-game swing Friday night at Dallas.

Portland, which lost the first three games, trailed the Mavericks by 14 points in the third quarter.

But playmaker Terry Porter started driving to the basket and the Blazers outlasted the Mavericks, 144-140, in three overtimes.

Given a reprieve after falling five points behind in the second overtime, the Trail Blazers scored the last five points on a short bank shot by Kevin Duckworth and a three-point play on a drive by Porter.

Porter, who scored half of his 28 points in 15 minutes of overtime play, made a three-point play on a drive after Dallas went ahead, 129-124, in the second overtime. Wayne Cooper’s tipin just before the buzzer forced the third overtime.

“A win like this could turn our season around,” said Cooper, who played all three overtimes.

Derek Harper, who had a career-high 42 points, sank back-to-back three-point shots in the second overtime for what appeared to be a Maverick victory.

But the Blazers, who looked tired Thursday night in a loss at Utah, found new life in the running game of Porter.

James Donaldson had 27 rebounds for the Mavericks. There were 235 shots from the field, 121 by the Trail Blazers.

Besides getting 42 points from Harper, the Mavericks got 35 from guard Rolando Blackman.

Milwaukee 99, Detroit 85--With Fred Roberts getting 20 points and Paul Pressey coming off the bench to score 18, the Bucks trounced the Pistons at Auburn Hills, Mich. It was only the second loss in 11 home games for the Pistons.

It was the fourth victory in a row for the Bucks and the eighth consecutive game in which they have held the opposition under 100 points.

The Bucks, playing without injured guard Ricky Pierce, were without their coach for more than half the game. Del Harris was thrown out for rushing out on the court to argue a call. They also lost reserve Tony Brown in the first quarter when he punched the Pistons’ Dennis Rodman.

The Bucks trailed, 51-45, at halftime, but 10-0 and 11-0 runs in the second half turned the game into a rout.

Chicago 101, San Antonio 97--The Spurs’ winning streak finally ended at Chicago.

It took an outstanding performance by Michael Jordan to end the streak at eight in a row.

With Jordan getting 15 of his 34 points in the third quarter, the Bulls built an 87-72 lead, then Willie Anderson led a San Antonio surge that cut the lead to three points with 3:17 left.

Jordan and Scottie Pippen then scored the points that clinched it.

Boston 96, Seattle 89--The Celtics closed out their best trip West in several years, by coming from behind to win at Seattle and finish 3-0.

The Celtics, who have been a poor road team the past two seasons, climbed to .500 (7-7) away from home. Earlier in the week they beat the Clippers and Sacramento.

Indiana 103, Houston 97--The Pacers have won three games in a row without Chuck Person, recovering from a scratched cornea.

It was the first time the Pacers have beaten the Rockets since Nov. 17, 1984. It came despite 32 points and 11 rebounds by Akeem Olajuwon.

Phoenix 118, Minnesota 101--A broken cheekbone didn’t slow Tom Chambers at Minneapolis. He scored 24 points and had seven rebounds to lead the Suns to their third win in a row.

Sacramento 105, Philadelphia 95--Danny Ainge scored 33 points at Sacramento as the Kings ended their 10-game losing streak.

The win over the 76ers, who have lost three in a row, ended a string of tough losses, including one in which the Kings led the Lakers by eight points with 2:50 left.