NBA ROUNDUP : Mullin Shoots Down the Spurs

John Lucas’ honeymoon as an NBA coach came to an end Monday night in San Antonio courtesy of Chris Mullin.

Mullin scored 42 points, including a go-ahead jump shot with eight seconds to play that helped give the Golden State Warriors a 106-105 victory over Spurs.

It was Lucas’ first defeat in four games with the Spurs since he took over as coach after Jerry Tarkanian was fired.

“Teams in this league really like stopping hot teams, and they came in wanting to stop our streak,” Lucas said. “We now have to start over.”

The Spurs trailed, 81-66, with 3:26 to play in the third quarter, but a 32-14 run gave them a 98-95 lead with 4:55 left in the game.

David Robinson, who scored 32 points, accounted for 19 during the rally. Dale Ellis, who scored 20 points, and Sean Elliott each had five points during the run.

The Spurs led, 102-99, after Ellis made a jump shot with 2:02 to play, but Latrell Sprwell’s jump shot at 1:36 and Mullin’s three-point play with 30 seconds left gave the Warriors a 104-102 margin.

Ellis, who became the NBA’s second-leading three-point scorer behind Michael Adams, made a three-pointer with 18 seconds left, giving the Spurs a 105-104 lead.

Mullin then made his game-winning jump shot from the baseline.

J.R. Reid added 17 points for the Spurs. Elliott had 12.

Orlando 110, Milwaukee 94--Shaquille O’Neal scored 21 points and had 14 rebounds and five blocked shots at Orlando as the Magic outrebounded the Bucks, 61-30.

“I told them to just box their men out and I’d get the rebounds,” O’Neal said. “But everybody went after the ball. We played some pretty good defense. I didn’t have to help out much at all.”

Dennis Scott scored 25 points for the Magic, including five three-point baskets to boost his league-leading total to 60.

The rebounding advantage, plus 11 Orlando blocked shots, helped the Magic force another poor shooting performance from its opponent. The Magic has held their last seven opponents to a combined 40.2% shooting.

The Bucks, who ended an 11-game losing streak last Saturday, made only 37.6% of their shots against the Magic.

Blue Edwards scored 11 points the first six minutes for Milwaukee, but he finished with only 18.

Cleveland 98, Detroit 89--Mark Price made three baskets and passed off for three others during a 12-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter to lead the Cavaliers at Richfield, Ohio.

Price scored 28 points and had 12 assists, and Larry Nance had 27 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers, who won for the eighth time in nine games.

Terry Mills and Joe Dumars each scored 23 points, and Dennis Rodman grabbed 18 rebounds for the Pistons.

Detroit’s Isiah Thomas missed the game to attend the funeral of his father-in-law. The Pistons also lost backup center Olden Polynice because of a fractured right middle finger during the second quarter.

The Cavaliers led by nine early in the second half before Bill Laimbeer made five long jump shots during an 18-8 run.

New Jersey 104, Charlotte 103--Kenny Anderson had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 11 steals to lead the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Nets used a 16-5 run during the third and fourth quarters to turn a 73-69 deficit into an 85-78 advantage. Chris Morris, who scored 26 points, and Drazen Petrovic, who had 22, each had five points during the decisive run.

Larry Johnson and Alonzo Mourning each scored 27 points for the Hornets. Mourning also had 15 rebounds.

Washington 97, Atlanta 96--Pervis Ellison made one of two free throws with 5.7 seconds left at Landover, Md., to help the Bullets end a nine-game losing streak.

The Bullets led by 13 midway through the fourth quarter, but needed Ellison’s free throw to overcome a four-point play by Paul Graham that tied the score with 25 seconds left.

It was Washington’s first victory since a 114-106 decision over Sacramento on Dec. 8. The loss was the sixth in eight games for the Hawks.

Harvey Grant scored 25 points, Ellison 21, and Tom Gugliotta 18 for the Bullets.

Utah 114, Minnesota 95--John Stockton had 13 points, 20 assists and seven steals at Salt Lake City as the Jazz used 15-0 and 13-0 runs to hand the Timberwolves their seventh consecutive loss.

The Jazz scored 15 consecutive points during the final 3:48 of the third quarter to extend a 75-66 lead to 90-66.