NBA ROUNDUP : Spurs’ Defense Does the Trick Against Magic

The San Antonio Spurs have plenty of offensive punch, and their defense isn’t bad, either.

The Spurs held the Orlando Magic without a field goal in the final eight minutes in a 107-90 victory Saturday night at Orlando, Fla. It was the Spurs’ 12th win in 14 games.

The Magic shot only 29.8% (28 of 94), a team-low shooting percentage for the second-year franchise and a league low this season.

The previous NBA low was 30.9% by the Minnesota Timberwolves, also against San Antonio, on Dec. 15.

“We play pressure defense and really took them out of the things they wanted to do,” said Willie Anderson, who led the Spurs with 27 points.

“They like to pound the ball inside and run off screens. We took that away and just gave them one bad shot, then took the rebound and were able to get out on the break.”

Anderson made 13 of 17 shots and the Spurs used a 10-0 burst to put the game away after Orlando’s Jeff Turner hit a jump shot to trim San Antonio’s lead to 88-78 with 8:18 left.

Orlando didn’t score again from the field, and its starters finished 15 of 54, including a two-for-14 performance by leading scorer Terry Catledge, who missed all nine of his attempts in the first half.

Rookie Dwayne Schintzius, who grew up 80 miles from Orlando and attended the University of Florida, made his first NBA start at center for San Antonio. He helped the Spurs get off to a good start with six points and two blocked shots in the first quarter.

David Robinson, who did not start for the first time this season, came off the bench to hit eight of 12 shots, score 18 points, grab 13 rebounds and block five shots in 26 minutes.

Detroit 99, New Jersey 83--With Isiah Thomas sitting out the first half at Auburn Hills, Mich., with a sore groin muscle, the Pistons were struggling. But Thomas came on in the third quarter and helped Detroit outscore the Nets, 27-14, on its way to Chuck Daly’s 400th NBA coaching victory and the Pistons’ sixth in a row.

“It was the second half,” Thomas said. “We weren’t playing that well. Chuck asked me if I could play. I said, ‘Yeah.’ ”

Thomas finished with four points and five assists in 23 minutes, but contributed more than that.

“What it did was get Joe Dumars into the offense,” said Mark Aguirre, who led all scorers with 25 points, while Dumars had 13 of his 22 in the second half.

“When Joe’s playing the point, he doesn’t shoot. With Isiah in there, he takes the lane and gets the ball to people where they’re expecting it.”

Atlanta 117, Minnesota 112--John Battle scored five of his 27 points in overtime as the Hawks extended their winning streak to six games with a victory over the Timberwolves at Atlanta.

It was Atlanta’s ninth consecutive victory at home and Minnesota’s eighth consecutive loss on the road.

The Timberwolves put the game into overtime on Sam Mitchell’s two free throws with 21 seconds remaining, making it 108-108.

The teams were tied, 112-112, in the extra period when Battle hit the first of two free throws with 1:40 to play, giving Atlanta the lead for good.

Dominique Wilkins added 24 points for Atlanta. Tony Campbell led the Timberwolves with a season-high 34 points, and Pooh Richardson added 29.

Houston 112, Indiana 99--Otis Thorpe took up the slack for injured Akeem Olajuwon with 29 points and 13 rebounds in leading the Rockets at Houston.

Kenny Smith added 22 points for the Rockets, who will play without Olajuwon for at least a month. Olajuwon has a fractured eye orbit.

The Rockets used the trio of Adrian Caldwell, Dave Feitl and Larry Smith to replace Olajuwon. The three centers combined for 16 points and 19 rebounds.

Indiana guard Vern Fleming did not play after being disciplined for showing up only 45 minutes before the game. His replacement, Michael Williams, led the Pacers with 22 points.

Philadelphia 120, Denver 104--Charles Barkley scored 41 points, 11 of them during a 19-4 run in the first quarter, as the 76ers won at Denver to snap a four-game losing streak.

“I like the Nuggets’ style because I like the open court,” Barkley said. “God has blessed me with a lot of talent and I enjoy displaying it. The main thing is to have fun. I mean, really, the game is not that important. The object is to have fun.

“If you live by the jump shot, you’re not going to have very many wins. Before this team develops a consistent low-post game, they are going to continue to lose.”

Walter Davis scored 24 points for Denver, and Michael Adams had 23, but made only seven of 22 shots.

Milwaukee 88, Phoenix 86--Frank Brickowski scored 24 points and the Bucks rallied in the fourth quarter to improve to 17-0 at home.

The win was the 300th in the NBA for Coach Del Harris, and the 17 consecutive wins at home ties the club record, set in 1972-73.

Jay Humphries’ basket with 1:44 to play gave Milwaukee an 87-85 lead. Phoenix guard Kevin Johnson, who scored 34 points, made one of two free throws with 37 seconds to play, cutting it to 87-86. The Suns had a chance to take the lead but lost the ball in the lane with 14 seconds left.

Humphries then made one of two free throws with 13 seconds to play.

Phoenix had another chance to tie the score, but Xavier McDaniel’s shot went off the rim and a last-second tip by Jeff Hornacek missed as the buzzer sounded.

Portland 132, Miami 108--Cliff Robinson, starting in place of injured Jerome Kersey, matched his season high with 20 points as the Trail Blazers beat the Heat at Portland.

Rookie Willie Burton scored 20 points for the Heat, who played without three of their top four scorers--Rony Seikaly, Sherman Douglas and Kevin Edwards.

Chicago 108, Cleveland 92--Michael Jordan scored 30 points and B.J. Armstrong came off the bench with a season-high 18 for the Bulls at Chicago as the Cavaliers lost their seventh in a row and 13th in 14 games. The Bulls won for the ninth time in 11 games.

Henry James, playing in only his third NBA game after coming from the Continental Basketball Assn., led Cleveland with 25 points.

Utah 106, Sacramento 98--Karl Malone scored 26 points as the Jazz extended their winning streak to five games with a victory at Sacramento.

Wayman Tisdale scored 22 for the Kings, who have lost seven of eight.