NBA ROUNDUP : Spurs Get Well Against the Magic

By the end of last season, the Orlando Magic appeared to be the best of the four new teams in the National Basketball Assn.

After winning only six of its first 29 games, the Magic won 31 games in its second season, more than Charlotte, Minnesota and Miami.

When the Magic drafted two big men, Stanley Roberts and Brian Williams, it seemed to be a team on the way up. Apparently, it isn’t.

The San Antonio Spurs were the latest team to find a haven in Orlando. With David Robinson getting 25 points and 16 rebounds Sunday night, the Spurs pulled away in the closing minutes for a 96-87 victory.

With the score tied, 79-79, with 4 1/2 minutes to play, Willie Anderson made a layup and two free throws to trigger an 8-0 run that sent the Magic to its 14th consecutive defeat.

The loss left the Magic with a 6-22 record. Only Minnesota is worse.

The Spurs had won only five of their previous 14 games.

Nick Anderson, who had 31 points, helped the Magic build a 67-58 lead after three quarters. But the defense collapsed, Robinson took control and the Spurs improved their record to 16-12.

“We did a job in the last quarter,” Robinson said after the Spurs outscored the Magic, 37-20 in the final 12 minutes. “But we should be putting a team like this away earlier.”

The Magic, which has lost 19 of its last 20, is winless in December.

Portland 129, Miami 96--There were times earlier in the season when the Trail Blazers, after a big victory on the road, would return to Portland and lose to an inferior team.

But the Trail Blazers are rolling now. They jumped ahead of the Heat, 18-8, never let up and rolled to their fourth victory in a row. They also rolled into second place, half a game behind Golden State in the Pacific Division.

Clyde Drexler scored 22 points in 28 minutes for Portland. Fourteen of those points came in the third quarter, when Portland connected on 16 of 22 shots (73%) in expanding a nine-point halftime lead to 24.

Reserve Cliff Robinson added 17 points for Portland and starters Buck Williams and Terry Porter had 16 and 15, respectively.

Kevin Edwards led Miami with 20 points and Rony Seikaly had 15.

The Trail Blazers, who are 13-5 at home, have played only 11 road games.

Milwaukee 110, Houston 100--Moses Malone had 21 points and 14 rebounds in the Bucks’ victory at Milwaukee. Hakeem Olajuwon had 27 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets. Malone was playing professional basketball in 1974 when Olajuwon was 11.

With Malone nullifying Olajuwon’s efforts, the Bucks were able to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit and hand the Rockets their seventh loss in 14 games on the road. Dale Ellis came off the bench to score 16 points in the fourth quarter to spark the Bucks.