NBA ROUNDUP : Mutombo Happy to Be Home

Dikembe Mutombo, in his return to the Capital Centre at Landover, Md., sold the place out Friday. The former Georgetown star didn’t disappoint the 18,756 fans either.

In his only appearance this season back home, Mutombo, a leading candidate for rookie of the year honors, had 17 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 106-99 victory over the Washington Bullets.

Mutombo put on a show while bringing the Nuggets from eight points behind with a fourth-quarter rally that ended their seven-game road losing streak.

Reggie Williams, also a former Georgetown star, had 20 points. Williams’ three-pointer put Denver ahead for good with 1:43 left. A block by Mutombo was a key play in the late rally, starting a fast break that led to a layup by Winston Garland.

It was more than Mutombo’s presence that helped the Bullets get one of their rare sellouts. He bought 62 tickets for family and friends.

“There’s no place like home,” he said. “You get to see your family, your friends, all the people you haven’t seen in six months. It was special for me.”

Golden State 123, Phoenix 115--The Warriors spotted the Suns an 11-point lead in the second quarter at Oakland, then stormed back behind Tim Hardaway.

With Chris Mullin a late scratch because of back spasms, the Warriors turned to Hardaway and he took them to their sixth victory in a row to remain one game out of first in the Pacific Division.

Hardaway, who had 43 points in Wednesday night’s victory, had 30 in this one. Kevin Johnson actually outscored Hardaway in the duel of the little men, getting 32 points. But the Suns lost for the fifth time in six games since the All-Star break.

New Jersey 105, Indiana 101--Drazen Petrovic made the big play at East Rutherford, N.J., sinking an 18-foot jumper with 30 seconds left to break the 101-101 tie.

The Pacers, who had won four in a row and nine of 11 after a horrible start, and wiped out a 95-78 deficit when Detlef Schrempf led a 23-6 spurt in the last quarter.

It was the ninth home victory in the last 10 games for the Nets.

Chicago 103, Atlanta 88--Michael Jordan wasn’t too happy about the play of the Bulls at Atlanta, even though they easily improved their record to 44-10.

“We sort of lollygagged around the first two quarters,” he said. “I wasn’t impressed.”

The fans at the Omni had to be impressed with Jordan. He finished with his second triple-double of the season--33 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high 14 assists.

“We were really fortunate to be in the game,” he said. “The way we played they could have run us out.”

Utah 124, Houston 97--Hot-shooting Jeff Malone scored 28 points on 12-for-16 shooting and the Jazz rolled to its sixth consecutive victory in the game at Salt Lake City.

The Jazz went to the front early and built the lead to 37-24 after a quarter. By halftime the Jazz led, 62-43.

The Jazz bottled up Hakeem Olajuwon, holding him to 17 points and six rebounds.

Cleveland 119, Sacramento 102--The Cavaliers learned their lesson well. After upsetting the Bulls Monday night at Chicago, they came out flat and were beaten at Milwaukee.

So, after beating the Knicks in New York Thursday night, they came out flying at Richfield, Ohio, against the Kings.

Brad Daugherty had 13 points and six rebounds in the first quarter when the Cavaliers jumped off to a 37-14 lead.

Daugherty was six for six in the first quarter and 13 for 14 for the game.

San Antonio 100, Philadelphia 90--After David Robinson scored 22 points in the first half at San Antonio, the 76ers decided to put Charles Barkley on the 7-foot-1 center.

Barkley, a bulky 6 feet 6, held Robinson to 11 points in the second half, but was so busy playing defense, he had only three points himself.

Without their offensive spark, the 76ers had only 32 points in the second half.

Boston 113, Charlotte 110--Kevin Gamble scored 25 points and ageless Robert Parish had 24 and 12 rebounds at Hartford, Conn., to lead the Celtics, who returned from a disastrous trip West in which they won only one of six games.

The Hornets had 24 points from Larry Johnson, but their late rally fell short.

Detroit 114, Orlando 100--Dennis Rodman, compiling the NBA’s best rebounding statistics in more than a decade, had 23 boards in 41 minutes at Orlando to lead the Pistons to victory.

Mark Aguirre scored 20 points in 25 minutes for the Pistons.

Dallas 109, Minnesota 94--Derek Harper scored eight of his 18 points in the decisive third quarter at Dallas. The Mavericks had only a 53-52 lead when Harper scored two baskets and four free throws in a 27-14 rally that broke it open.

The rebuilding Mavericks had four rookies on the floor most of the second half. Doug Smith had 12 points and five rebounds in 24 minutes.