NBA ROUNDUP : Trail Blazers Get Back on Track

The Portland Trail Blazers have the best record in the NBA, but the Pacific Division leaders were struggling on the road.

Entering Thursday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets, the Trail Blazers had lost three consecutive road games.

Kevin Duckworth scored 25 points and had 14 rebounds as the Trail Blazers returned to their winning ways with a 122-111 victory at Denver.

Clyde Drexler had 19 points and eight assists for Portland, which improved its overall record to 43-10. It was the fourth victory of the season for the Trail Blazers over the Nuggets, the first series sweep ever for Portland over Denver.

Orlando Woolridge scored 20 points and had 13 rebounds and Reggie Williams scored 18 points for the Nuggets, who have lost seven consecutive games.

Michael Adams, back in uniform after missing five games with a pulled hamstring, made four of 14 shots and scored 12 points--13 below his average.

Denver trailed, 27-26, early in the second quarter, but a 29-18 spurt put Portland ahead, 56-44, at halftime.

Miami 104, Washington 90--Glenn Rice scored 27 points at Landover, Md., to lead the Heat to their fifth road victory.

Rice scored 12 points in the third quarter to give the Heat the lead, then scored seven in the final 5:08 to help Miami hold off the Bullets’ comeback.

Rony Seikaly scored 24 points and Sherman Douglas had 20 for the Heat, who are 5-21 on the road.

Bernard King had 15 points for the Bullets, but he made only four of 16 shots and did not score a basket in the final 39:12.

Houston 92, Milwaukee 90--Vernon Maxwell scored the game-winning basket with 40 seconds left at Houston as the Rockets ended the Bucks’ three-game winning streak.

Otis Thorpe had 28 points and 19 rebounds and Larry Smith had 20 rebounds for the Rockets.

Maxwell’s layup off a fast break gave the Rockets a 91-90 lead, and the Rockets clinched the victory when Jack Sikma missed a shot in the final seconds.

Frank Brickowski, who sat out because of a one-game suspension Tuesday for fighting, led Milwaukee with 18 points.

Seattle 120, New York 101--Shawn Kemp scored 24 points for the SuperSonics as the Knicks’ home record fell to 11-17, the worst in the NBA.

Ricky Pierce scored 14 of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter for the SuperSonics.