NBA ROUNDUP : Drexler Is Hot, Malone and Stockton Not

Clyde Drexler emerged from a brief shooting slump to score 33 points in 29 minutes as the Portland Trail Blazers routed the Utah Jazz, 118-86, Thursday night at Portland to gain a little breathing space in the Pacific Division race.

Drexler, playing despite a strained right knee and sore big toes, was 13 for 16 from the field as the Trail Blazers increased their lead over second-place Golden State to 2 1/2 games with eight games to play.

Drexler made only 12 of 41 shots in Portland’s previous two games, losses to New York and Phoenix.

Karl Malone managed only 10 points, 18 below his average, and John Stockton had three assists, 10 below his league-leading average, as the Midwest Division-leading Jazz was blown out for the second game in a row. Jeff Malone scored 17 points for the Jazz.

Portland Coach Rick Adelman said he couldn’t believe it when he looked at the halftime statistics and saw that Stockton had one assist.

“You better take that and just frame it,” Adelman said, “because you’re not going to see that very often.”

Terry Porter scored 22 points for Portland, 14 in the second quarter. The Portland guards were 19 for 25 from the field and didn’t play in the last 12 minutes.

The shooting of Drexler and Porter combined with a tight defense to trigger Portland’s decisive outburst in the second quarter. Drexler scored six points and Porter five during a 13-2 run that gave the Trail Blazers a 46-32 lead with 2:15 to play in the half.

The Trail Blazers outscored the Jazz, 23-7, over the last 6 1/2 minutes of the quarter, including a 7-0 run in the final 50 seconds, to lead, 56-37, at halftime. Porter was five for five and Drexler four for five in the quarter.

Utah Coach Jerry Sloan said his team simply had no answer for the Trail Blazers in the second quarter.

“We were simply unable to defend them,” he said. “They must have done a really good job on Karl and they put pressure on the ball.”

Phoenix 109, Golden State 105--Andrew Lang had 21 points and 13 rebounds at Phoenix as the Suns scored their 13th consecutive regular-season victory at home over the Warriors.

Lang made two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining to match his career-scoring high and give the Suns a 108-103 lead.

Lang was one of three Suns with more than 10 rebounds as the Suns had a 52-33 rebounding edge, including 27 offensive rebounds.

Kevin Johnson had 22 points and 15 assists for Phoenix. Billy Owens and Sarunas Marciulionis had 21 points for Golden State, which has not won a regular-season game in Phoenix since March 21, 1987.

Phoenix led by 17 points twice in the third quarter, the last when Johnson’s two free throws with 2:49 remaining made it 83-66.

But the Warriors went on a 33-17 run, capped by Chris Mullin’s free throw after Lang was given a technical foul with 3:36 left in the game, cutting the Suns’ lead to 100-99.

Seattle 111, Sacramento 103--Eddie Johnson scored 28 points and the SuperSonics outscored the Kings, 15-6, in the final 4:42 at Sacramento.

Mitch Richmond scored 29 points and Anthony Bonner had 21 for the Kings. Ricky Pierce had 25 points and Derrick McKey added 20 for the SuperSonics, who moved 1 1/2 games ahead of the Clippers for the sixth spot in the Western Conference.

Sacramento, which has lost nine of 10 home games, made its first 10 shots of the third quarter and used a 24-6 run to take an 11-point lead with 3:13 left in the quarter.

Houston 137, Denver 114--Hakeem Olajuwon and Sleepy Floyd each scored 17 points at Houston as the Rockets ended a six-game losing streak.

Nine Rockets scored in double figures, matching a club record. Olajuwon has 13,384 points, surpassing Rudy Tomjanovich, now coach of the team, for second place on the Rockets’ scoring list behind Calvin Murphy’s 17,949.

“With nine guys in double figures, everybody got a chance to be a part of it,” Tomjanovich said.

The Rockets trail the Lakers by two games for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot.

The Nuggets, who have lost six in a row, got 23 points from Marcus Liberty. The Nuggets also lost rookie center Dikembe Mutombo for the season after surgery Thursday to repair a torn ligament in his left thumb.

New York 117, Charlotte 96--Patrick Ewing had 25 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots as the Knicks dominated the Hornets on the boards and extended their road winning streak to six games.

New York, which outrebounded Charlotte, 75-35, in a 29-point victory March 7, had a 44-29 rebounding edge Thursday night, including 23-6 in the first half.

“That’s what we’re supposed to do,” Ewing said. “We’re leading the league in rebounding and we definitely felt we could dominate on the glass.

“I thought we did a better job defensively in the second half. We picked it up to another level.”

The Knicks have the third-best record in the Eastern Conference behind Chicago and Cleveland thanks to their 20-16 record on the road, second best in the NBA behind the Bulls.

“We’re a good road team, there’s so much more pressure to win at Madison Square Garden,” Coach Pat Riley said. “We feel we can win anywhere.”