NBA ROUNDUP : Barkley Has Big Hand in Portland’s First Loss

The Portland Trail Blazers joined the beaten Wednesday night.

The Phoenix Suns ended Portland’s eight-game, season-opening winning streak behind Charles Barkley’s 33 points and 18 rebounds in a 121-117 victory at Phoenix.

Clyde Drexler scored 17 of his 36 points in the third quarter as Portland, the NBA’s last unbeaten team, trailed, 92-91, going into the final quarter although the Suns threatened to pull away several times.

Dan Majerle’s three-point shot with a little more than three minutes left gave Phoenix a 110-104 lead. After Portland pulled within two, Danny Ainge, a former Trail Blazer, made another long shot with 1:56 left for a 113-106 advantage.

Tom Chambers scored 23 points for Phoenix. Jerome Kersey had 23 for Portland. Cliff Robinson’s three-pointer with 4.1 seconds left gave him 17 points.

Barkley had 20 points and 11 rebounds at halftime, when the Suns held a 63-57 lead after a baseline jumper by Ainge in the final second.

“It was a good team effort, other than my six turnovers and six missed free throws,” Barkley said. “I thought we played hard. It’s not about playing well, it’s about playing hard.

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Orlando 107, Houston 94--At Orlando, Shaquille O’Neal looked like a rookie for a change, but the Magic continued to build confidence by stopping the Rockets’ six-game winning streak. Scott Skiles scored a season-high 30 points and Dennis Scott added 28 to help keep the Magic atop the Atlantic Division standings.

Houston center Hakeen Olajuwon had 22 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots in 41 minutes in his first meeting against O’Neal, who took only 12 shots and had 12 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks in his least effective game of the season.

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New York 99, Minnesota 78--Patrick Ewing scored a season-high 30 points and John Starks, back after a two-game benching, added 20 at Minneapolis, as the Knicks handed the Timberwolves’ their fifth consecutive loss.

In winning on the road for the first time since a season-opening victory at Atlanta, the Knicks held Minnesota to its lowest scoring output since a 79-78 loss to Dallas on Nov. 30, 1991. Christian Laettner, a rookie from Duke, scored a career-high 29 points for the Timberwolves.

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San Antonio 128, Utah 102--The Spurs ended a 17-game losing streak in Salt Lake City and extended the Jazz’s home woes as David Robinson scored 25 points and Antoine Carr 21. Sean Elliot and Dale Ellis scored 19 points each and Lloyd Daniels had 18 off the bench for the Spurs, who won for the fourth time in 10 games under Coach Jerry Tarkanian.

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Boston 150, Washington 112--The Celtics ended a six-game losing streak, their worst since 1979, as Reggie Lewis scored 29 points on 14-for-17 shooting at Boston. The last time the Celtics reached 150 points in regulation was against Indiana on Dec. 26, 1990, when they scored 152. Boston also scored 152 in a double-overtime victory against Portland last March.

Rookie reserve Don MacLean paced the Bullets with a season-high 24 points.

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Charlotte 101, Detroit 97--The Hornets won their fifth consecutive game as Dell Curry scored 12 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, extending the Pistons’ losing streak to six games.

Dennis Rodman, returning from a three-game suspension, had 20 rebounds in 33 minutes, but it was not enough to save the Pistons, who scored only 36 points in the second half at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Rodman was suspended for missing all of a four-game Western trip, during with the Pistons went 0-4.

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Miami 110, Indiana 93--Glen Rice scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter and had a career-high 17 rebounds, and the Heat overcame the absence of two centers to win at Miami.

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Denver 114, Sacramento 99--Chris Jackson had 23 points and Dikembe Mutuombo had 17 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots at Denver. The Nuggets made 50.6% from the field to 37.8% for the Kings, who were led by Mitch Richmond with 20 points.

The Kings traded swingman Vincent Askew to the Seattle SuperSonics for a conditional 1993 second-round draft pick.

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Atlanta 111, Philadelphia 105--Dominique Wilkins scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, including a three-point shot with 30 seconds left as the Hawks won at Atlanta.

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Milwaukee 94, Cleveland 85--Brad Lohaus scored eight of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the Bucks used an 11-0 spurt to beat the Cavaliers at Milwaukee. Blue Edwards added 14 points and Frank Brickowski had 12, six in the fourth quarter.