NBA ROUNDUP : Thorpe Powers Rockets Past Spurs

The Houston Rockets, learning to play without center Akeem Olajuwon, turned to Otis Thorpe for the big plays Saturday night at San Antonio.

Thorpe scored eight of his 30 points in overtime and had 17 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a 100-94 victory over the Spurs.

The season series between the teams is even after four games. The Spurs won the first two games, each by a point. The Rockets won by two points Tuesday night.

The Spurs’ Terry Cummings was sidelined for that game because of a broken hand. Teammate Rod Strickland, who suffered a broken hand in an altercation Thursday night at a nightclub, joined Cummings on the bench. Strickland might be out six weeks.

In both Rocket victories, David Robinson played below his usual form. Robinson had only 16 points Tuesday night. He had 24 points and 11 rebounds in this one, but he also fouled out late in regulation.

The Rockets led most of the game, once by 14 points. But Robinson rallied the Spurs and with 1:05 to play, the Spurs led by four points. Kenny Smith made a 15-foot shot to close the gap. Thorpe was fouled by Robinson with 35 seconds to play and converted both free throws to send the game into overtime.

Thorpe made the first two shots in overtime and the Spurs never caught up.

“Thorpe was great again,” Spur Coach Larry Brown said. “He always gives us fits, and we can never find a way to stop him.

“We missed Rod, too. When you make 22 turnovers, it’s hard to win.”

Strickland, who sat on the bench in street clothes with his hand in a cast, said: “When David fouled out, nobody took over. That’s why we couldn’t win in overtime.”

Indiana 106, Seattle 100--Detlef Schrempf came off the bench to put some fight into the Pacers at Indianapolis.

Schrempf scored 29 points, had 13 rebounds and got into a fight with Seattle rookie Gary Payton.

Schrempf had made a free throw to give the Pacers a 104-100 lead when Payton threw a punch at him with 13 seconds to play. Both were ejected.

“The fight shouldn’t have happened,” said Payton, who led the SuperSonics with 19 points and seven steals. “There was contact and tempers were running high.”

Michael Williams had 29 points and seven assists for the Pacers.

“I guess you could say it was Michael Williams night,” Indiana Coach Bob Hill said. “He was brilliant and magnificent and whatever else you want to say about him. He was all over the floor.”

Utah 111, New Jersey 103--Their comeback victory over Atlanta Tuesday night has given new life to the Jazz.

In that game, the Jazz trailed by 23 points in the third quarter. On Thursday they easily handled Portland.

In their third victory in a row at Salt Lake City, Karl Malone and John Stockton led the way and the Jazz moved to within two games of first place in the Midwest Division.

Malone had 32 points and Stockton had 26 points and 13 assists.

It was the fourth loss in a row for New Jersey.

Denver 126, Atlanta 125--It seems unfair these days to have a team wind up a six-game trip against the Nuggets in Denver.

A late rally by the Hawks fell short and the Nuggets stretched their winning streak to six games.

Michael Adams, who has taken charge of the high-powered Nugget offense, made only eight of 31 shots from the field, but he wound up with 31 points and 16 assists.

Adams has averaged 33.3 points in the past eight games.

New York 92, Sacramento 78--Their best player, Patrick Ewing, was sidelined because of flu, but the Knicks played one of their best games in weeks.

Gerald Wilkins scored 12 points in five minutes of the third quarter at New York to break open a close game and give the Knicks only their second victory in the past six games.

Kiki Vandeweghe scored 19 points in the first half for the Knicks and Charles Oakley had 18 rebounds.

Cleveland 113, Minnesota 110--Larry Nance sent the game into overtime with a steal and a dunk in the last minute of regulation at Richfield, Ohio, then scored five points in overtime.

It was only the fifth victory in the past 26 games for the Cavaliers since they lost Mark Price for the season.

After being sidelined for five games because of a sprained ankle, Tony Campbell scored 28 points and almost pulled out a victory for the Timberwolves. The former Laker made two three-pointers in the last 10 seconds of overtime, then barely missed tying the score with a three-point attempt as the game ended.

Orlando 108, Miami 98--Scott Skiles broke out of a shooting slump with 27 points at Orlando and the Magic made 14 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter.

With the victory, the Magic (12-33) moved ahead of the Heat (12-34).