NBA ROUNDUP : Olajuwon Gets Quadruple-Double in Win

Akeem Olajuwon, who had the third quadruple-double in NBA history with 29 points, 18 rebounds, 11 blocked shots and 10 assists, might have gotten an assist from the official scorer Saturday night.

Olajuwon, who has been criticized for not passing enough, never before had more than seven assists in an NBA game. He picked a perfect time to reach double figures in assists.

“I might do it more often,” Olajuwon said after leading the Houston Rockets to a 129-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

The achievement of reaching double figures in four statistical categories was somewhat tainted, however, when the original boxscore showed Olajuwon with nine assists. The number was changed to 10.

Nate Thurmond of Chicago was the first to accomplish a quadruple-double with 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocked shots on Oct. 18, 1974. Alvin Robertson, then of San Antonio, had 20 points, 10 assists, 11 rebounds and 10 steals on Feb. 18, 1986 against Phoenix.

“Olajuwon had a very special game. It seemed like every time we had someone going to the basket on a drive, he was there to block the shot,” Warrior Coach Don Nelson said.

Golden State, which has lost eight of its last nine games, was led by Chris Mullin’s 23 points.

Houston used a 25-6 run to take a 48-38 lead with 4:25 remaining in the first half. The Rockets outscored the Warriors, 34-13, in the quarter.

“The second quarter was the story of the game,” Nelson said. “It was devastating. Some games are decided in the last two minutes. This one was decided in the second quarter.”

Olajuwon had eight points during that stretch as the Rockets extended their lead to 60-45 at halftime.

New York 106, Milwaukee 105--Patrick Ewing scored 31 points and Charles Oakley had 11 of his 23 in the fourth quarter for the Knicks in Milwaukee.

Maurice Cheeks scored on a pass from Ewing to give the Knicks the lead for good at 102-101 with 39.3 seconds to play.

After the Bucks called a timeout, Oakley grabbed a rebound and was fouled by Ricky Pierce. Oakley converted both free throws and Trent Tucker and Ewing added one each, the last making it 106-102 after a free throw by Milwaukee’s Mike Dunleavy.

Jay Humphries finished the scoring with a three-point basket for Milwaukee.

New Jersey 114, Atlanta 109--Sam Bowie had 25 points and 12 rebounds and Purvis Short scored 12 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Nets ended a four-game losing streak and halted Atlanta’s five-game winning streak at East Rutherford, N.J.

Short broke a 104-104 tie and gave the Nets the lead for good when he made two free throws with 1:41 remaining.

Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins led all scorers with 36 points and has 80 in two games.

Sacramento 104, Charlotte 103--Antoine Carr’s two free throws with 23.5 seconds left capped a 6-0 run that gave the Kings a victory in Charlotte.

The Hornets led, 103-98, with 1:25 to play when Randolph Keys made one of two free throws. But Sacramento’s Wayman Tisdale made two turnaround jump shots to pull the Kings within one before Carr converted the decisive free throws.

Washington 132, Orlando 128--Bernard King had 34 points and Washington scored five points in the final 14 seconds of regulation, then went on to win in Orlando in double overtime.

King and Ledell Eackles made critical three-point shots in the final 51 seconds of regulation to help the Bullets overcome a six-point deficit in the final 55 seconds.

Utah 112, San Antonio 98--Karl Malone scored 36 points and John Stockton had 22 points and 20 assists to lead the Jazz in Salt Lake City.

It was the second consecutive game that Stockton had 20 or more assists and the 18th 20-plus game of his career.

Denver 106, Dallas 89--Michael Adams scored 13 points in a six-minute span of the first half, lifting the Nuggets in Denver.

Adams finished with 15 points. Alex English scored 24 points for Denver. Sam Perkins scored 16 to lead Dallas, which played without 7-footers James Donaldson and Roy Tarpley because of injury and illness.

Portland 110, Seattle 98--Clyde Drexler scored 20 points to lead six Trail Blazers in double figures at Portland.

The Trail Blazers took the lead for good late in the first quarter, but Seattle stayed close until Portland scored 11 consecutive points for an 84-67 lead with 10:52 left in the game. Seattle got no closer than eight after that.