NBA ROUNDUP : Suns Let Spurs Steal a Victory and End Streak

The longest win streak in the NBA this season came to end Sunday night when the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Phoenix Suns in overtime, 114-113, at San Antonio.

The defeat, the Suns’ first since Nov. 28, ended the Suns’ 14-game win streak.

“The streak is over,” Sun Coach Paul Westphal said. “We’ll try to start another one. The Spurs are a good team and they didn’t quit. This just proves you can’t go into the home run trot before the end of the game.”

The Suns contributed to their own demise by blowing a four-point lead with five seconds left in regulation. David Robinson, who scored 33 points, pulled the Spurs to within 107-105 with 4.3 seconds left on a follow shot, then stole an inbounds pass and fed Sean Elliott for a game-tying dunk with 0.4 seconds to play.

The Suns had a chance to win in overtime, but Tom Chambers’ 18-foot baseline jump shot was off the mark with two seconds left.

The victory was the first for the Spurs this season when they entered the fourth quarter behind.

The Spurs, who are 5-1 under Coach John Lucas, had been 0-10 in games they trailed after three quarters.

Charles Barkley, who scored 31 points, said the turnover that led to Elliott’s overtime-forcing slam was the pivotal play.

“You can’t give away a game. . .,” Barkley said. “The Spurs are a good team, but our team is better.”

Robinson, who made 15 of 20 free throws and also had 11 rebounds, was proud of his team’s work at the end of regulation and overtime.

“It was a real confidence builder. We showed a lot of character . . . I’m feeling so much pride in this team right now. We’re moving in the right direction.”

Portland 103, Houston 101--Rod Strickland forced overtime with a steal and a layup with 4.9 seconds to play in regulation, then scored the winning points with 1:01 remaining as the Trail Blazers came back for the victory at Portland.

Hakeem Olajuwon of the Rockets had a season-high 40 points, 10 blocked shots and nine rebounds before fouling out with 24 seconds to play.

Portland’s Buck Williams missed four free throws after Olajuwon fouled out but blocked Otis Thorpe’s driving stuff attempt at the buzzer to preserve the victory.

Strickland had 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Trail Blazers.