NBA ROUNDUP : Rice (45) Is Really Cooking Now

Miami forward Glen Rice knew he had the shooting touch Wednesday night and his teammates kept him going as he scored a season-high 45 points to lead the Heat to a 116-96 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Miami.

Rice made 17 of 22 from the floor and 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed 14 rebounds as the Heat gained its most decisive victory of the season.

“I had chills going through my body when I was stroking it tonight,” said Rice, who made all six of his shots from the field and five of six free throws in the final quarter.

Rice, who scored 18 in the fourth quarter, fell one point shy of his career high.

“They could have cooked on his head, he was so hot,” said Rony Seikaly, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat.

Dominique Wilkins, the NBA’s second leading scorer with a 28.4 average, had 34 for Atlanta and has scored more than 30 points in seven of his last 10 games.

Charlotte 129, Philadelphia 118--Alonzo Mourning had 29 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots, and the Hornets broke open a close game with a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter at Philadelphia.

Mourning scored 26 points in the first half and All-Star forward Larry Johnson had 15 of his 25 points in the final two quarters. Armon Gilliam scored 24 points and Hersey Hawkins 20 for the 76ers.

Houston 119, Dallas 102--Hakeem Olajuwon scored 13 of his 30 points during a fourth-quarter surge to lead the Rockets at Dallas.

Olajuwon grabbed 18 rebounds and added eight blocked shots, including three in the fourth quarter. Olajuwon leads the NBA in blocks.

“We needed to step it up in the fourth quarter,” Olajuwon said. “They’ve won only three all year and we definitely didn’t want to lose to them. This is a team we should beat.”

Vernon Maxwell had 22 points for the Rockets, who won their 12th out of their last 14 games.

Derek Harper had 27 points to lead the Mavericks, losers of eight consecutive games and 38 of 41. Randy White added 22 points and 14 rebounds for Dallas.

Cleveland 108, Milwaukee 100--Brad Daugherty scored 31 points and Craig Ehlo had seven in the final 3:22 to help the Cavaliers break a three-game road losing streak.

Danny Ferry and Ehlo made big three-point baskets during the fourth quarter when Milwaukee’s defense was concentrating on Daugherty.

“We had the defense rotating a lot, mainly because of the way Brad was scoring inside,” said Ferry, who twice made game-tying three-pointers during the final five minutes. “He opened up a lot of things for everybody. They really tried concentrating on packing it in and doubling down on Brad, and because of that I hit some open jump shots.”

Daugherty made 13 of 18 shots and had 11 rebounds, and Mark Price added 17 points. Alvin Robertson scored 18 points for the Bucks.

Phoenix 122, Minnesota 102--Danny Ainge scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Suns maintained their perfect record against the Timberwolves and won their 13th consecutive game at home.

Ainge ended the first half with a spectacular three-point basket as the Suns took a 61-37 halftime lead. Charles Barkley scored 13 of his 17 points during the first half and had 14 rebounds for the Suns, who are 15-0 against the Timberwolves.

“They were very aggressive on defense, and we were not ready to play,” Minnesota Coach Sidney Lowe said. “Some guys were very tired. The NBA is night in and night out, and you have to be ready.”

Christian Laettner and Luc Longley each had 16 points for Minnesota.

Utah 100, Denver 96--John Stockton scored 22 points, including the go-ahead basket with 40 seconds left and two free throws with 7.8 seconds remaining, lifting the Jazz at Utah.

After trailing, 84-76, with 8:16 left, Stockton’s jump shot gave Utah the lead for good at 97-96. The Nuggets’ Chris Jackson missed a three-point attempt with 25 seconds left.

Karl Malone had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Jazz. Marcus Liberty had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Nuggets, who had won five of their six previous games after a 10-25 start.

Chicago 107, Sacramento 88--Michael Jordan scored 36 points at Sacramento to lead the Bulls to their fifth consecutive victory over the Kings.

Chicago is 3-3 on its current nine-game, 16-day trip. The Bulls led, 48-41, at halftime and then increased the margin to 83-65 after three quarters.

Scottie Pippen and B.J. Armstrong each finished with 14 points for Chicago, and Horace Grant grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bulls. Lionel Simmons scored 18 points for Sacramento, which lost for the 10th time in 13 games.