NBA ROUNDUP : When These Suns Shine, Streaks Go Away

The Phoenix Suns seem to have a knack for ending winning streaks.

Tom Chambers’ 19-foot last-second jumper gave the Suns a 106-104 victory over Atlanta Thursday night at the Omni in Atlanta, ending the Hawks’ club-record home winning streak at 22.

“Just call us the streak-breakers,” Phoenix Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons said. “We have been breaking the streaks and we’ll take them.”

This season, the Suns stopped a 16-game winning streak by the Lakers, 11-game winning streaks by Portland and Detroit, and a seven-game winning streak by Boston. They also ended the New York Knicks’ season-high streak at five games.

“We were not too much worried about the streak. We were worried about the game,” the Hawks’ Dominique Wilkins said. “We had that big lead in the third and we thought we might blow them out. But they kept coming. You can’t relax against a good team like that.”

Atlanta’s last loss at home was 104-103 to Milwaukee on Dec. 7.

Chambers scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter as the Suns won their fourth consecutive game and moved within 1 1/2 games of the second-place Lakers in the Pacific Division.

Wilkins made two free throws with 17 seconds remaining to tie the score before Chambers hit his game-winning shot.

Wilkins led all scorers with 27 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, but had only four points in the second half and none in the final quarter until he tied the score at 102 with a three-point play with 1:03 left.

The Hawks led, 76-59, with 9:31 left in the third quarter, but the Suns began hitting and the Hawks went cold. Phoenix outscored the Hawks, 16-2, to take an 83-82 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Dan Majerle’s layup with 3:39 left gave the Suns a 100-98 lead and they never trailed again.

Kevin Johnson had 23 points and Jeff Hornacek had 16 for the Suns.

Moses Malone added 19 points and Willis had 13 for the Hawks.

Seattle 91, Minnesota 86--Eddie Johnson scored 10 of his 18 points in a 4:40 stretch of the second quarter, and the surging SuperSonics withstood a late rally by the Timberwolves at Minneapolis.

The victory was the sixth in seven games for the Supersonics, who got 25 points from Ricky Pierce. Minnesota lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Benoit Bejamin added 18 points for Seattle, which trailed only once, early in the game.

Indiana 145, Denver 125--Vern Fleming scored a career-high 31 points at Indianapolis, and Rik Smits also had 31, a season high, as the Pacers scored their most points in nine years.

The Pacers, whose previous season high was in a 137-114 victory over Charlotte on Dec. 20, hadn’t scored 145 points since a 155-150 overtime loss at Denver on Dec. 28, 1982.

Reggie Miller scored 33 points for the Pacers. Orlando Woolridge and Marcus Liberty scored 18 points each for the Nuggets.

Houston 122, Dallas 90--Otis Thorpe scored 24 points and the Rockets took control with a 21-8 run at the start of the third quarter at Houston. Houston, which held an opponent under 100 points for the fifth time in six games, won its third consecutive game and 12th in its past 15.

The Rockets shot 60% from the field against the slumping Mavericks, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games and shot only 37%.

“We’ve got to take advantage of the momentum that we have going,” Thorpe said. “It’s a big plus having Akeem (Olajuwon) coming off the bench, so why change things that are working?”

San Antonio 111, New Jersey 99--Terry Cummings scored 25 points and David Robinson grabbed 20 rebounds for the Spurs, who beat the Nets at San Antonio for the 11th consecutive time.

The Spurs outrebounded the Nets, 78-38.

Reggie Theus scored 28 points and Sam Bowie added 24 for New Jersey, which has lost 11 consecutive road games. Rookie Derrick Coleman sprained his thumb in the first quarter and finished with just five points, all from the free-throw line.

“It was tough for them without Coleman and Chris Dudley (who missed the game with a bruised thigh),” San Antonio Coach Larry Brown said. “Coleman is their go-to guy and it really hurt them when he went out.”

Golden State 122, Cleveland 92--Alton Lister scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in only 23 minutes at Oakland as the Warriors registered their largest victory margin this season.

Brad Daugherty scored 24 points for the Cavaliers.