NBA ROUNDUP : Barkley Leads 76ers to Fifth Victory in Row

It might be a coincidence, but Charles Barkley has stayed out of trouble for more than 10 nights and the Philadelphia 76ers are on a winning streak.

Barkley had 22 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes to lead the 76ers to a 115-94 victory over the New Jersey Nets at Philadelphia on Saturday night. The 76ers’ fifth consecutive victory ended the Nets’ five-game winning streak.

The game after Barkley’s most recent bar-room incident in Chicago early in the morning Jan. 15 was his worst of the season. He was four for 15 and had only 13 points in a loss at Boston.

The next night, against Washington, Barkley had 30 points and the 76ers began the winning streak that has carried them to .500 (21-21). He has averaged slightly fewer than 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists during the streak.

Midway through the final period, Net Coach Bill Fitch and assistant Tom Newell were ejected during a dispute with referee Stan Javie.

“I was complaining to Bill Saar about our guys getting slapped,” Newell said. “All of a sudden, Javie jumped in and threw me out.”

Chicago 114, Houston 100--Michael Jordan scored 35 points at Chicago and Horace Grant had 22 as the Bulls scored their 13th consecutive victory.

The Bulls (37-5) have won 18 of their last 19 and 21 of 23 at home. They led by 11 points at halftime and opened it to 67-45 early in the third quarter.

Phoenix 121, Washington 115--The Suns, after losing the first two games of their trip, completed the four-game swing with back-to-back victories.

After winning in Boston, Phoenix took a 22-point lead during the third quarter at Landover, Md., and hung on for the victory.

The Suns reserves, led by Dan Majerle, who had 11 of his 21 points during the second quarter, had 55 points.

Before losing at Chicago Tuesday night, the Suns had won seven in a row.

Miami 103, Dallas 101--It was a big night for expansion teams. The three that played won.

The Heat, the best of the four new teams, needed a late run by Glen Rice to beat the slumping Mavericks.

With Rony Seikaly ejected during the first quarter for arguing a call by referee Ed Rush, the pressure was on Rice.

Rice scored eight of his 33 points during an 8-2 run midway through the last quarter that gave the Heat the lead for good, 95-92.

Derek Harper had 24 points for the Mavericks, who dominated the boards in Seikaly’s absence, 65-57. The Mavericks have lost 13 of their last 14 games.

Orlando 99, Cleveland 96--The Magic ended the Cavaliers’ road winning streak at seven games.

Nick Anderson, who had a triple-double in the Magic’s victory over Dallas on Friday night, led Orlando with 26 points.

The Magic took a 15-point lead during the third quarter, then withstood a rally. Mark Price led the late surge and finished with 24 points.

Charlotte 107, Indiana 105--Johnny Newman made two free throws with seven seconds left for the Hornets at Charlotte.

The free throws ended the Hornets’ five-game losing streak and gave Newman 41 points, a franchise record and a personal best. Newman made 14 of 19 shots and 12 of 13 free throws.

Reggie Miller missed an 18-footer at the buzzer that would have forced overtime.

Denver 107, Bucks 100--After Dikembe Mutombo’s 10-footer tied the score at Denver as time was running out in regulation, Reggie Williams starred in overtime.

Williams scored six points during a 12-2 run by the Nuggets to open the extra period.

Moses Malone had 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost their fourth in a row.

Mutombo, who was one for six from the line, was five for eight from the field and had 14 rebounds.

“I thought of driving to the hoop,” Mutombo said of his tying shot, “but everybody screamed, ‘Shoot it.’ Time would have run out if I dribbled again.”

Utah 104, Seattle 103--Jeff Malone stole a pass and scored the winning layup with less than 10 seconds to play at Salt Lake City.

The SuperSonics led, 103-101, and the Jazz’s Karl Malone, who had 30 points, made only one of two free throws with 26 seconds left to precede Jeff Malone’s steal.