NBA ROUNDUP : Hornets and Mourning Find Magic Isn’t Same Without O’Neal

Alonzo Mourning took advantage of the absence of center Shaquille O’Neal and scored 30 points and the Charlotte Hornets defeated the Orlando Magic, 102-93, Thursday night at Orlando.

O’Neal was serving a one-game suspension for punching the Detroit Pistons’ Alvin Robertson on Tuesday night.

And backups Greg Kite and Brian Williams were no match for Mourning, even though they combined for 24 points and 19 rebounds.

O’Neal’s absence was particularly felt on the defensive end as the Hornets drove the lane without fear of having their shots blocked.

Mourning made 13 of 21 shots from the field, while Larry Johnson had 22 points and 15 rebounds for Charlotte.

Scott Skiles led the Magic with 23 points and 14 assists.

The Hornets clinched the victory, their first in six games, by making 17 of 20 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Charlotte outscored the Magic, 30-7, from the foul line and attempted 39 free throws--30 more than Orlando.

“We capitalized on their mistakes. That was the biggest factor in the game,” said Mourning, downplaying the absence of O’Neal, who averaged 32 points and 14 rebounds in two games against the Hornets.

Houston 121, Milwaukee 115--Hakeem Olajuwon scored 24 points and Vernon Maxwell had 21, including seven free throws in the final four minutes at Houston.

The Rockets extended their lead over the second-place San Antonio Spurs to 1 1/2 games in the Midwest Division.

The Rockets used a 12-point first quarter by Winston Garland and runs of 13-4 in that period and 11-4 in the second quarter as springboards to a 64-56 halftime lead.

Garland suffered a bruised thigh eight seconds into the second quarter and sat out the rest of the game.

Eric Murdock led the Bucks with 22 points.

New Jersey 95, Miami 82--The victory was the Nets’ eighth in a row at home and their 42nd overall, their most in seven seasons. New Jersey is 42-29. The 1984-85 Nets finished 42-40.

In the second quarter, the Nets shot 65% (15 of 23) from the field to turn a two-point lead into a 59-43 margin at halftime.

Derrick Coleman had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, whose bench outscored the Heat, 49-17.

Rony Seikaly had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Miami. The Heat pulled to within seven points in the second half, but no closer, winding up matching its season low in points.

New York 91, Cleveland 83--Patrick Ewing had 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Knicks to their 15th consecutive victory at home.

The Knicks (49-20), who have won four in a row overall and 13 of their last 15, increased their lead to one game over the Chicago Bulls (48-21) in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

John Starks added 22 points and 11 assists for New York.

Cleveland, coming off its worst offensive outing of the season in a 91-78 loss at Detroit on Sunday, got only 10 points each from its season scoring leaders, Brad Daugherty and Mark Price. The Cavaliers had a season-low 32 points in the first half, including only 14 in the second quarter.

Price, who averages nearly 19 points per game, made two free throws to improve his consecutive streak to 71, tying Larry Bird for the third longest in NBA history.

Terrell Brandon led Cleveland with 16 points.

Sacramento 117, Washington 97--Spud Webb scored 18 of his game-high 27 points in the second half at Landover, Md., as the Kings won their first road game in more than a month.

The Bullets have lost five of their last six games and three in a row at home.

The Kings are 7-27 on the road.

Walt Williams and Randy Brown had 23 points each for Sacramento, and Anthony Bonner added 20.

Tom Gugliotta had 19 points and 18 rebounds for the Bullets, and Harvey Grant contributed 19 points.

Washington, already without center Pervis Ellison because of a knee injury, suffered another blow when veteran Charles Jones left the game in the first quarter because of a knee injury.