NBA ROUNDUP : Drexler Scores 15,000th Point

No wonder Clyde Drexler is such a popular figure in Portland, Ore.

After the All-Star guard and U.S. Olympian passed the 15,000-point mark in his NBA career, in the Trail Blazers’ 95-91 victory over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night at Portland, he was quick to praise his teammates.

“A lot of guys had a lot to do with it, especially the ones who have been passing me the ball all these years,” said Drexler, whose 12-footer at 3:33 of the third period gave him 15,001 points. “Duck (Kevin Duckworth) is going to remind me who passed me the ball on that shot--probably, it will be about 20 times a game.”

The Trail Blazers, at 8-0, are the only undefeated team in the NBA.

In his 10th season, Drexler became the 62nd player, and 14th active player, to reach 15,000 points.

“It’s a great achievement,” Coach Rick Adelman said. “He’s been so good for so long, to get a milestone like that shows the player that he is and the ability that he has. He’s going to be around for a long time. He’s still got a lot of basketball left in him.”

Drexler scored 14 of his 24 points in the third quarter, when the Blazers went ahead, 76-65, and were threatened only late in the fourth period.

“We let down a little bit, but they did a good job in moving the ball,” Adelman said. “Our rotation on defense let us down a little bit. (Antoine) Carr hit a couple of turnaround jump shots before our defenders even had a chance to get to him.”

Carr had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and David Robinson added 22 points and 14 rebounds.

Chicago 101, Golden State 92--Michael Jordan’s 49 points led the Bulls at Oakland and the Warriors remain the NBA’s only winless team at home.

Chris Mullin, who had 32 points, pulled the Warriors to 89-88 on a one-handed bank shot with 4:10 remaining. But the Bulls scored the next eight points, including a basket and two free throws by Jordan, to seal the victory as Golden State fell to 0-4 at the Oakland Coliseum.

Charlotte 127, Philadelphia 119--Newly acquired David Wingate scored 23 points at Charlotte, helping the Hornets to their fourth consecutive victory.

Wingate, released by Washington during the off-season, was picked up by the Hornets last week to replace injured Johnny Newman.

After Hersey Hawkins’ three-pointer pulled the 76ers to a 103-98 deficit in the fourth quarter, the Hornets went on an 11-2 run.

Dell Curry had 22 points and Larry Johnson 19 for the Hornets. Hawkins had 24 points and Jeff Hornacek 23 for the Philadelphia.

New York 98, Washington 88--Patrick Ewing had 28 points and 18 rebounds as the Knicks remained unbeaten at home with a 32-point fourth quarter.

The Knicks, 5-0 at Madison Square Garden, scored fewer than 100 points for the sixth consecutive game, but lowered their NBA-leading defensive average to 93.6 points per game.

Harvey Grant scored 24 points and Michael Adams 19 for the Bullets, playing without starters Pervis Ellison and Rex Chapman because of injuries.

Rookie Tom Gugliotta, Washington’s leading scorer and rebounder going into the game, was scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting.

Seattle 103, New Jersey 97--Gary Payton scored a career-high 25 points, and Eddie Johnson led a 15-6 fourth-quarter run at Seattle. Johnson scored 14 of his 16 points in the final quarter.

The SuperSonics extended an 82-81 lead with 6:12 remaining to 97-87 on Johnson’s layup with 1:49 left.

Seattle’s Shawn Kemp had 25 points and 13 rebounds, and New Jersey’s Derrick Coleman had 25 points and eight rebounds.

Payton, the second pick in the 1990 draft behind Coleman, put on a dazzling show. The 6-foot-4 guard was 10 for 16, had eight assists, four steals and no turnovers.

Cleveland 109, Milwaukee 105--Mark Price scored four of his 24 points in the last 10 seconds at Richfield, Ohio, as the Cavaliers ended the Bucks’ three-game winning streak.

Price drove around Eric Murdock and ducked under Brad Lohaus to make a 10-foot shot with 10 seconds left, putting Cleveland ahead for good, 107-105.

Gerald Wilkins scored 22 points and John (Hot Rod) Williams had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavaliers.

Indiana 114, Miami 82--Reggie Miller scored 20 points and Detlef Schrempf added 13 of his 19 during a key run in the second quarter at Indianapolis as the Pacers broke a two-game losing streak and extended the Heat’s string to four losses.

Rik Smits, the Pacers’ center, matched career highs of 16 rebounds and five assists without playing in the fourth quarter.