NBA ROUNDUP : Spurs Deliver Message to Suns

If the San Antonio Spurs meet Phoenix in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Suns will want to forget about what happened Saturday night.

Shooting a season-high 59%, the Spurs opened a 33-point lead in the fourth quarter before settling for a 122-109 victory at San Antonio that extended the Suns’ road losing streak to seven.

The victory moved the Spurs to within two games of the Suns in the race for the Western Conference’s fourth playoff spot. It was San Antonio’s first victory in three meetings with Phoenix this season. They meet again in April.

“It is important to beat Phoenix at this time of year, especially since we are chasing them in the playoff race,” David Robinson said.

Robinson, Rod Strickland and Sean Elliott each made 10 of 14 shots. Robinson finished with 23 points, and Strickland and Elliott each had 21.

Dan Majerle scored 24 points for the Suns, but Kevin Johnson was held to 13.

“Our defense was really good,” said Spur Coach Bob Bass, who got his 300th pro coaching victory. “We defended well the entire game. We trapped (Kevin Johnson) every chance we got, and because our big guys were so active, the trapping was effective.”

Bass has 134 victories with the Spurs, most in his first stint with the team. He also has coached the Memphis Tams and Miami Floridians of the ABA and Denver Nuggets.

San Antonio has won seven in a row at home and 11 of 12 since Bass replaced Larry Brown. The Spurs play six of their next seven in San Antonio.

Golden State 110, Houston 100--Chris Mullin made 14 of 18 shots and scored 36 points as the Warriors held Hakeem Olajuwon in check while defeating the Rockets at Oakland.

Olajuwon, averaging 24 points and 14 rebounds against Golden State, was limited to 13 points and had 14 rebounds.

The Rockets trimmed an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to 101-96 with 3:29 remaining. But Tim Hardaway’s two free throws and Mullin’s jump shot rebuilt the lead to nine points and the Rockets didn’t challenge again.

Golden State has a 12-3 record since the All-Star break, 9-1 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, best in the NBA.

Indiana 108, Minnesota 97--Reggie Miller scored 18 points and Rik Smits had 17 points and 12 rebounds as the Pacers held off the Timberwolves at Indianapolis.

The Pacers led, 88-69, with 10:50 left, but went almost five minutes without a field goal as the Timberwolves closed to 101-95 with a 26-13 spurt.

Miller hit two free throws with 1:35 left and Indiana finished with a 7-2 run.

New York 107, Charlotte 78--Patrick Ewing had 20 points and grabbed 20 rebounds as the Knicks outrebounded the Hornets, 75-35, in a victory at New York.

It was victory No. 1,000 at home for the Knicks dating to Nov. 16, 1946. Ralph Kaplowitz, 72, who scored 14 points in that first victory, 64-63, over the Pittsburgh Ironmen, was in the audience at Madison Square Garden.

Cleveland 110, Atlanta 94--Larry Nance scored 15 of his 35 points in the final 9:30 to lead the Cavaliers past the Hawks at Atlanta.

Nance made 16 of 22 shots and had 12 rebounds for Cleveland.

Washington 94, Milwaukee 90--Michael Adams and Harvey Grant each scored 24 points as the Bullets handed the Bucks their 14th consecutive setback on the road in a game at Baltimore Arena.

Milwaukee is 5-24 on the road, and hasn’t won away from the Bradley Center since Jan. 2 at Minnesota.

Seattle 109, New Jersey 98--Ricky Pierce scored 13 of his 27 points in the first quarter to lead the SuperSonics to a victory over the Nets at Seattle.

Drazen Petrovic scored 31 points for the Nets.