NBA ROUNDUP : Trail Blazers Double Coach’s Pleasure

Coach Rick Adelman received a three-year contract extension and the Portland Trail Blazers celebrated Wednesday night in Charlotte.

In the absence of injured star Clyde Drexler, Terry Porter took charge in the closing minutes to lead the Trail Blazers to a 104-94 victory over the Hornets.

Porter, off to a slow start, scored nine of his 22 points to spark a 15-0 run that brought the Trail Blazers from behind in the last four minutes.

Porter, who was two for 10 in the first half, made a three-point play with 4:09 remaining to tie the score and the Trail Blazers scored the next 12 points. The Hornets missed seven consecutive shots before Kelly Tripucka sank a jump shot with 21 seconds left.

Adelman was rewarded for making the Trail Blazers one of the best teams in the NBA. The victory, in which rookie Drazen Petrovic scored 22 points, his NBA high, gave Portland a 37-14 record. Only the Lakers (38-12) and Detroit (38-14) have better records.

Phoenix 120, Boston 99--It was their fifth game on the road in the last week and the Celtics tired in the second half.

Kevin Johnson scored 31 points and Tom Chambers 25 as the Suns, leading, 55-49, at halftime, went on a 27-10 spurt in the third period to break it open.

Minnesota 97, Houston 92--The Rockets’ troubles continued on the road. With Tony Campbell scoring 30 points, the expansion Timberwolves won their club-record fourth in a row. The Rockets, who have lost three in a row, are 4-22 away from home.

The last time an expansion team won four in a row was in 1974, when the New Orleans Jazz did it.

Seattle 117, Orlando 102--Xavier McDaniel had 27 points and 10 rebounds at Orlando to lead the SuperSonics to an easy victory that pulled them to .500 (25-25).

Washington 110, Atlanta 107--Jeff Malone and Bernard King came out firing at Atlanta, combining for 57 shots.

Malone, who was 17 for 35, ended up with 39 points and King, who was 12 of 22, had 29, leading the Bullets to their third consecutive victory.

Milwaukee 110, New Jersey 102--Second-year forward Charles Shackleford had the game of his life at Milwaukee, but still the Nets couldn’t win.

Shackleford had 23 points and 26 rebounds, but the Nets lost their 14th in a row, this season’s longest losing streak.

Ricky Pierce came off the bench to score 29 points in 27 minutes to spark the Bucks.