NBA ROUNDUP : Olajuwon Still Prominent, Leads Rockets Over Spurs

Hakeem Olajuwon has said he does not want to play with the Houston Rockets after this season. However, he seems intent on leading them into the playoffs before he departs.

Olajuwon had 20 points and 15 rebounds Tuesday night at San Antonio to lead the Rockets to a 95-92 victory over the fading Spurs.

With no David Robinson to do battle with, Olajuwon was the decisive player. Robinson recently had thumb surgery and is out of action the rest of the regular season.

Not long ago the Spurs thought they had a chance to win the Midwest Division tile. Now they are beginning to wonder if they will make the playoffs.

With the victory, the Rockets improved to 40-36. The Spurs, losers of six of the last seven without Robinson, fell to 44-32, still good enough for sixth place in the West. The Rockets, in ninth place, trail the eighth-place Lakers by half a game in the battle for the final playoff position.

Portland 110, Golden State 101--When the Warriors just missed beating the Trail Blazers Sunday at Oakland, Coach Don Nelson conceded the Pacific Division title to the Blazers.

Apparently, his players weren’t ready to concede. Although Tim Hardaway and Sarunas Marciulionis didn’t even accompany the club to Portland because of injuries, the Warriors started out hot, building a 50-39 lead before the Blazers went to work.

Terry Porter had 26 points and the Blazers rallied to win and increase their lead in the division to four games with six games to play.

Phoenix 103, Sacramento 101--The Suns became the third team in the Pacific Division to win 50 games when they barely outlasted the stubborn Kings at Phoenix.

Mitch Richmond scored 32 points and the Kings battled for the lead until the final minute when the Suns prevailed.

The victory left the Suns one-half game behind Golden State in the battle for second place.

Boston 100, Cleveland 97--The Celtics seem to be learning to get along without Larry Bird.

At Richfield, Ohio, Reggie Lewis led the Celtics to their second surprising win in a row without Bird, who is suffering back spasms.

Lewis had 17 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead basket with 12 seconds left and the Celtics stopped the Cavaliers’ 12-game home winning streak.

The Celtics beat the Chicago Bulls in Boston Sunday.

The Celtics, battling Detroit for the homecourt edge in the opening round of the playoffs, have won nine out of 10.

Atlanta 104, New Jersey 97--Just about the time it seems the Hawks are about to drop out of the playoff chase, they rally to stay alive.

Kevin Willis had 24 points, including three baskets in an 11-0 run late at East Rutherford, N.J. that snapped a four-game losing streak, and 16 rebounds.

The Hawks have the seventh-best record in the East. Eight teams make the playoffs.

Detroit 103, New York 94--Bill Laimbeer had 24 points at New York and the Pistons finally beat the Knicks after losing to them five times in a row.

The Knicks lead in the Atlantic Division was cut to three games over surging Boston. The Celtics and Knicks play tonight at Boston.

Utah 124, Denver 101--The faltering Jazz picked on the Nuggets at Denver to move closer to the title in the Midwest Division.

Karl Malone had 24 points and Jeff Malone 23 and the Jazz took a five-game division lead over San Antonio.

Miami 100, Washington 89--Glen Rice made five three-pointers and had 21 points at Miami and the Heat ended a four-game losing streak.

The end of the slump put the Heat just one game behind the Nets, the eighth-place team in the East.

Chicago 116, Milwaukee 101--Michael Jordan had 30 points and Scottie Pippen 26 at Chicago as the Bulls, after a slow start, rolled to victory.

It was the club-record 62nd win for the Bulls, who are 33-5 at home.

Orlando 135, Charlotte 110--Sean Higgins made 12 consecutive shots and scored 29 points at Orlando to lead the Magic.