NBA ROUNDUP : Hornets Look Up at Rockets, Then Beat Them, 102-97

Charlotte had lost eight in a row and was without its starting front line--center Alonzo Mourning and forwards Larry Johnson and Scott Burrell.

Houston has perhaps the best big man in basketball in Hakeem Olajuwon and had beaten the Hornets 12 times in 13 meetings.

Charlotte 102, Houston 97.

Go figure.

Hersey Hawkins had 25 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for the Hornets on Wednesday at Charlotte, where Rocket Coach Rudy Tomjanovich wasn’t happy.

“Charlotte is still very hard to defend, even without their big guns,” Tomjanovich said. “Muggsy (Bogues, who had 17 points and 13 assists) played a great game, and Hawkins seemed to have a dagger for use every time he was left open.

“We came out very unaggressive and dug a big hole for ourselves. Charlotte shot the heck out of the ball and we couldn’t stop it.”

Hakeem Olajuwon finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead Houston, but he missed a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds to play that would have tied the score.

Suns 126, Trail Blazers 100--Charles Barkley scored 20 points in 29 minutes in his first game since Jan. 7. His replacement, Cedric Ceballos, had 30 points at Phoenix, which was 8-9 in Barkley’s absence because of a torn tendon in his right leg.

A.C. Green had 10 of his 15 rebounds and nine of his 16 points in the third quarter, which started with Portland ahead 50-45 and ended with the Suns leading, 86-70.

Denver 107, Milwaukee 95--Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf scored 21 points and Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 16 rebounds at Milwaukee, where the Nuggets snapped a three-game losing streak.

Reggie Williams scored 18 points and LaPhonso Ellis 15 for Denver, which never trailed.

Jon Barry scored 17 points for the Bucks, 6-19 at home and 8-17 on the road.

Miami 109, Chicago 101--Steve Smith capped a rally from a 21-point deficit with 14 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter at Chicago, where the Heat ended the Bulls’ home-court winning streak at 17 games.

The Bulls had not lost at home since Nov. 13 and are 18-3 there, but 0-2 against Miami.

Sacramento 94, Philadelphia 92--Mitch Richmond sank a three-pointer from the right wing with nine seconds to play in overtime at Sacramento.

Richmond finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for the second triple-double of his career.

Clarence Weatherspoon scored 20 points for the 76ers but blew a chance to win the game in regulation by missing two free throws with 21 seconds to play.