NBA ROUNDUP : Trail Blazers Keep Saving Murray’s Best for Last

Tracy Murray is making a habit of shooting down the Charlotte Hornets.

On Sunday night, Murray scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Portland Trail Blazers to a 106-101 victory over the Hornets at Portland.

Only two weeks ago, Murray had 22 points and made four of five three-point shots in 20 minutes of play in the Trail Blazers’ 116-110 victory at Charlotte.

“I just want to make sure I keep myself mentally ready, especially when you come in the third and fourth quarters,” Murray said.

Portland Coach Rick Adelman kept Murray on the sidelines until the start of the fourth quarter on Sunday.

Murray made a three-point basket during an 9-0 run that helped the Trail Blazers come back from an 11-point third-quarter deficit. He also made a three-point play with 4:34 left that broke a 92-92 tie and gave the Trail Blazers the lead for good.

“Physically, all I have to do is run up and down the floor a couple of times and I’m ready,” Murray said.

Clifford Robinson scored 20 points for the Trail Blazers.

Hersey Hawkins led the Hornets with 24 points. Alonzo Mourning added 20.

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New Jersey 99, Utah 94--The Nets held the Jazz without a basket over the final 6:41 at East Rutherford, N.J.

Kenny Anderson and Kevin Edwards combined for 20 of the 26 fourth-quarter points scored by the Nets, who played without starting forwards Derrick Coleman, who had back spasms, and Chris Morris, who had flu.

The Nets are 3-0 in games Coleman has sat out.

Anderson had 24 points, 14 assists, five rebounds and two steals. Edwards scored 25 points.

Anderson and Edwards each had 10 points during a fourth quarter that featured eight ties and two lead changes.

Karl Malone had 23 points for the Jazz, but only three in the final quarter. John Stockton had 17 points for the Jazz, who have lost five of six.

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Boston 105, Denver 100--Rookie forward Dino Radja scored 29 points and Robert Parish had a season-best 26 at Boston as the Celtics ended their franchise-record seven-game home losing streak, and a five-game overall losing streak.

Dee Brown added 16 points and 11 assists and Xavier McDaniel had 12 points for the Celtics.

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf led the Nuggets with 20 points. Tom Hammonds had 17, including 13 in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets are 5-15 on the road.

Hammonds had a chance to tie the score with 50 seconds left, but he missed a free throw.

A basket by Parish and a put-back by Radja with 10 seconds left helped seal the victory.