NBA NOTES : New Jersey Passes a Difficult Test

The New Jersey Nets finished 6-5 in their killer 11-game stretch against winning teams, which included seven road outings and games at the Meadowlands against Boston and division leaders Portland, New York and Chicago.

The strong showing kept the Nets in the race for their first playoff appearance since 1986, but coach Bill Fitch said he fought the tendency to accept losses during the tough stretch.

“It was an unusually difficult part of the schedule, but you can’t take the philosophy that you can afford to lose a certain number of games,” Fitch said. “After a while, you run out of rope.”

The Nets won the first four games of the 11-game span, then lost four straight on the West Coast before winning against Boston at Hartford and at New York. The rough stretch concluded with a loss at home against the Bulls.

“After we won those first four, we couldn’t sneak up on anybody out West,” Fitch said. “We didn’t have a bad game, but we didn’t put together a good game.”

Fitch said New Jersey’s situation of trying to catch up with the Knicks in the New York metropolitan area is similar to the Los Angeles Clippers’ long years in the shadow of the Lakers.

“The difference this year is that the Clippers and Lakers are both fighting just to get in the playoffs,” Fitch said. “The Knicks are still at the top of the division.”

The six millionth point in NBA history is expected to be scored this weekend.

Rickey Green, then of the Utah Jazz, scored the five millionth point in 1988.

While the Charlotte Hornets are making a late-season bid to get into the playoff race with nine victories in 12 games, Larry Johnson is running away from Dikembe Mutombo for scoring honors among rookies.

Johnson averaged 22.5 points in those 12 games to raise his average for the season to 18.9.

“In this streak, we’ve proven that we can compete with anybody and win,” Johnson said. “Other teams know they’ve got to play every minute if they’re going to beat us. I knew we were a better team than what we showed.

Meanwhile, Mutombo averaged 8.8 points as Denver lost 11 of 12 games before the Nuggets defeated Sacramento on Tuesday. His average for the season dropped from 18.9 to 17.0.

“He’s trying to fight back, but there’s no energy,” Nuggets general manager Bernie Bickerstaff said. “Some of the kids are playing well. But the big guy has hit the wall. And he’s a big factor on this team.”

Don Nelson’s NBA experience doesn’t exactly go from A to Z, but it does span from A to W.

Nelson, who last week became the first man to participate in 2,500 NBA games as a player and coach, played with 79 teammates ranging from Jerome Anderson to Willie Williams. He has coached 124 players spanning alphabetically from Victor Alexander to Brian Winters and has had 20 assistant coach-staff members ranging from Al Attles to Dave Wohl.

George Karl, who led Seattle to 16 victories in his first 25 games as coach after replacing K.C. Jones on Jan. 23, said he took a pay cut from his coaching job in Madrid to get the job with the SuperSonics.

His base salary was $250,000, but that included a lot of extras.

“In Spain, they paid everything -- house, car, utilities, anything,” Karl said. “And it was tax free.”

Projected as a forward coming out of Clemson, rookie Dale Davis is showing promise as a center for the Indiana Pacers.

The 6-foot-11 Davis is seventh on the Pacers in minutes played, but he is second on the team in both rebounding and shot-blocking.

Despite having the worst record in the NBA, the Minnesota Timberwolves have some positives to build on.

At the Target Center, Timberwolves attendance is 98.9 percent of capacity, and they have improved their shooting percentage every month this season.

Minnesota shot 42.2 percent in November, 44.8 percent in December, 46.8 percent in January and 47.9 percent in February.