NBA ROUNDUP : Knicks Stay Perfect at Home With 19-0 Run

The New York Knicks erased a nine-point deficit with a 19-0 burst and held the New Jersey Nets scoreless for 7:40 of the fourth quarter Tuesday night to score a 102-94 victory and remain the NBA’s only unbeaten team at home.

John Starks came off the bench to lead the Knicks with 27 points, including 17 during the fourth quarter. Patrick Ewing scored 24 as the Knicks improved to 10-0 at Madison Square Garden.

Ewing scored eight points, Starks seven and Anthony Mason four during the Knicks’ 19-0 run. New Jersey led by as many as nine points twice, the second time at 83-74 with 9:29 remaining after a three-pointer by Drazen Petrovic, who led the Nets with 19 points.

Starks has scored in double figures in his last eight games and has led the Knicks in scoring off the bench in two of the last three. He made seven of nine shots and 12 of 15 free throws.

The Nets led most of the game before hitting their drought in the fourth quarter, when they made only seven of 26 shots. New Jersey shot 45.9%, the Knicks 55.2%.

“We just got some defensive activity and pressure and began extending into the passing lanes,” Knick Coach Pat Riley said of his team’s play during the fourth quarter.

“Something was there that wasn’t there in the first three periods. The Nets were beating us and finally we got some life.”

Starks capped his night by scoring New York’s final seven points, all from the free-throw line.

Golden State 119, Minnesota 105--Chris Mullin scored the 10,000th point of his NBA career and Tim Hardaway had 30 points as the Warriors beat the Timberwolves at Oakland.

It was Minnesota’s ninth loss in a row.

Mullin, the Warriors’ leading scorer the last four years, scored his 10,000th point with a three-foot, hesitation bank shot with 7:32 remaining. Mullin, who finished with 28 points, has scored in double-figures in 196 consecutive games.

Sarunas Marciulionis added 26 points for the Warriors, who overcame an 18-point second-quarter deficit with the help of the Timberwolves’ season-high 23 turnovers.

Doug West scored 28 points for Minnesota.

Utah 122, Charlotte 102--Jeff Malone covered for the absence of Karl Malone with a season-high 34 points at Charlotte, N.C., as the Jazz beat the Hornets for the ninth consecutive time.

Karl Malone, the NBA’s No. 3 scorer, sat out because of a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul against Detroit’s Isiah Thomas on Saturday night.

Karl Malone’s replacement, Mike Brown, had a personal-best 24 points and nine rebounds.

Kenny Gattison led the Hornets with 19 points, and Larry Johnson added 17 points and 17 rebounds.

“Karl’s absence just made things a little harder,” Jeff Malone said. “Maybe we’ll have to work on a trade for him. We’re 2-0 without him.”

Malone made 15 of 22 shots.

Atlanta 117, Indiana 113--Dominique Wilkins scored 39 points and Duane Ferrell had a personal-best 25 as the Hawks held off a late rally to beat the Pacers at Atlanta.

Trailing by 114-104 with 3:31 remaining, the Pacers scored nine points in a row, pulling to 114-113 on Chuck Person’s three-pointer with 1:16 to play.

Ferrell’s rebound basket made the score 116-113 with 47 seconds to go, and the Pacers failed on three-point shots by Reggie Miller, Person and Michael Williams in the next 43 seconds. Kevin Willis closed the scoring by making one of two free throws with four seconds left.

Miller led the Pacers, who had won three consecutive games, with 28 points. Rik Smits added 20 points and Person 19.

It was Wilkins’ ninth game this season with 30 or more points and it ended a two-game slump during which he had scored only 14 in each game. Willis had 18 rebounds.

Said Wilkins: “Ferrell played a great game. Duane and I kind of get excited when we play against Chuck (Person). It’s just one of those things. Some guys are just fun to play against.”

Ferrell, who made 10 of 11 shots, also had six rebounds and three steals. “My intention was to come out playing real hard defense and contain Person,” Ferrell said. “Sometimes your defense carries over to your offensive game.”

Boston 105, Orlando 98--Reggie Lewis scored 23 points, seven of them in the final three minutes, as the Celtics won at Orlando, Fla.

The Magic, losers of eight consecutive games, cut into a 16-point lead by scoring the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, and then tied the score on four occasions without ever leading.

Larry Bird, who sat out last Saturday’s game against the Knicks because of back pain, scored 20 points and had nine assists.

Scott Skiles led Orlando with 18 points.

San Antonio 98, Dallas 87--Vinnie Johnson’s four points and key steal fueled an 8-0 run to open the fourth quarter by the Spurs at Dallas.

Johnson, signed as a free agent last week, scored on a drive to tie the score, 72-72, before Donald Royal’s layup put the Spurs ahead for good.

Johnson, who finished with 11 points on three-for-six shooting after missing all 10 of his shots in his first two games, added two free throws, then his steal on Dallas’ next possession led to Antoine Carr’s dunk and a 78-72 lead.

David Robinson had 22 points with 12 rebounds to lead the Spurs, who had lost six of their previous eight.

Derek Harper and Rolando Blackman scored 21 points each for the Mavericks.

Houston 100, Washington 97--Vernon Maxwell finished with 21 points and Kenny Smith scored seven of his 12 in the final 7:34 to lead the Rockets over the Bullets at Houston.

Pervis Ellison led the Bullets with 27 points and 15 rebounds.

The Bullets pushed the Rockets to the final seconds before losing their eighth consecutive game.

Otis Thorpe’s layup after a pass from Smith gave the Rockets the lead for good at 97-95 with 28 seconds remaining, and Smith’s free throw with 6.6 seconds left made the score 98-95. But Michael Adams, who scored 22 points, pulled Washington within one with two free throws with 3.8 seconds remaining.

Hakeem Olajuwon, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds, scored the final points of the game on two free throws. Washington’s A.J. English missed a three-point shot as the game ended.