NBA ROUNDUP : Victory Puts Rockets All Alone at the Top

There’s no disputing it now: The best record in the NBA belongs to the Houston Rockets.

Otis Thorpe scored 20 points and helped the Rockets through a rugged third quarter as the Rockets defeated the Seattle SuperSonics, 82-75, Saturday night at Houston in a matchup of the teams with the best records.

Houston improved to 19-1. Seattle dropped to 16-2.

“We had guys on their last legs out there digging it out,” Houston Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “I can’t express the feeling of pride when everybody goes out and totally lays it all out like that.”

Hakeem Olajuwon led the Rockets with 23 points, including Houston’s final two baskets, but it was Thorpe who came up with the big baskets in a third quarter filled with technical fouls.

Seattle trailed, 46-45, early in the third quarter but the Rockets--led by Thorpe’s eight points--opened a 67-56 lead going into the fourth.

Philadelphia 99, Milwaukee 86--Moses Malone became the fifth NBA player to reach 16,000 rebounds by helping the 76ers rout the Bucks at Milwaukee.

The 38-year-old Malone, whom the Bucks chose not to re-sign after he spent the previous two seasons in Milwaukee, had season highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Malone needed two rebounds entering the game to reach 16,000 and got five in the first quarter. The other four players with at least 16,000 career rebounds are Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Elvin Hayes.

Atlanta 116, Washington 108--The Hawks won a franchise-record 13th consecutive game, getting 31 points from Dominique Wilkins and 27 from Stacey Augmon in a victory at Baltimore.

Kevin Willis had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Hawks.

Michael Adams had a season-high 28 points and 11 rebounds for the Bullets, who have lost seven in a row.

Chicago 93, Cleveland 84--Reserve Steve Kerr scored a season-high 18 points and Pete Myers scored 10 consecutive points down the stretch to lead the Bulls at Chicago.

San Antonio 105, Denver 100--David Robinson scored 31 points and Terry Cummings and Lloyd Daniels each added 16 to lead the Spurs at San Antonio.

But the Spurs suffered a loss of sorts as it was determined that forward Antoine Carr will be sidelined for eight weeks because of a stress fracture of the left ankle.

Phoenix 114, Dallas 103--Charles Barkley scored nine of his 21 points in the second quarter as Phoenix opened a 20-point lead at Dallas and went on to deal the Mavericks their 15th consecutive defeat.

Kevin Johnson had 25 points to lead the Suns, who won their fifth in a row.

Detroit 92, Minnesota 80--Joe Dumars, held to two points in the first half, scored 15 points in the fourth quarter at Minneapolis as the Pistons ended their eight-game losing streak.

Dumars led all scorers with 22 points and Terry Mills added 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Pistons ended their longest losing streak in 12 years.

New York 98, Indiana 91--Patrick Ewing scored 32 points, 14 in the third quarter, and had 10 rebounds and six blocked shots as the Knicks won at New York.

Reggie Miller scored 27 points for the Pacers.

Miami 111, Boston 80--Harold Miner scored a career-high 28 points and Glen Rice had 25 as the Heat overcame a shortage of guards to win at Miami.

With starter Steve Smith out because of flu and reserve Brian Shaw unable to play because of a right thigh contusion, Miami was down to only two guards, Miner and Bimbo Coles.

Charlotte 105, New Jersey 99--Larry Johnson scored five of his 20 points during a late 10-0 run and Hersey Hawkins added a season-high 26 points as the Hornets won at Charlotte.

Golden State 115, Utah 112--Latrell Sprewell, who missed two key free throws late in regulation, made all four in overtime and scored a season-high 29 points to lead the Warriors at Oakland.

Chris Webber added 16 points and 11 assists for Golden State.