NBA ROUNDUP : No Rest for Defense as Suns Defeat Hawks

It wasn’t as much fun as it could have been. Defense is work, after all, but it was necessary because the Suns’ offense took a siesta Friday night in Phoenix.

The Suns scored only 35 points in the second half--their worst effort of the season--but the defense held the Atlanta Hawks to 18 points in the final quarter and the result was a 93-87 victory, the Suns’ fourth in a row.

Charles Barkley led Phoenix with 25 points and 13 rebounds, but perhaps more important, he shut down Atlanta’s Kevin Willis, who was averaging 19.3 points a game.

Willis scored 13 on Friday.

“I had him locked up. I don’t like to play defense, but I can,” Barkley said. “What I was doing, the other thing, was making it difficult for them to get the ball into him, because they must have had close to 10 turnovers trying to get him the ball.”

The Hawks had 21 turnovers, which angered Coach Lenny Wilkens.

“It was the worst I’ve seen us,” he said. “We fumbled it, stumbled around. We just gave them too much of an edge.”

Cedric Ceballos scored 24 points for the Suns, 18 of them in the first half when Phoenix built a 58-44 lead.

Charlotte 106, Dallas 104--Jamal Mashburn missed two free throws that would have tied the score with 2.5 seconds to play at Dallas, and the Hornets escaped with a victory that left the Mavericks with 16 consecutive defeats.

Washington 99, Boston 95--Don MacLean had 28 points and the Bullets outscored the Celtics, 18-4, in the final 6:16 at Boston to snap a nine-game losing streak.

Miami 101, Indiana 91--Glen Rice scored seven points and Harold Miner hit only his third three-pointer of the season in a 13-2 fourth-quarter run that enabled the Heat to win at Miami and snap a six-game losing streak.

Portland 111, Philadelphia 100--Rod Strickland tied his career high with 30 points and Cliff Robinson also scored 30 for the Trail Blazers at Philadelphia as the 76ers lost their ninth in a row and 24th in 25 games.

Orlando 98, New Jersey 96--Anfernee Hardaway scored 27 points and drove for the winning layup with 1.6 seconds to play as the Magic stopped New Jersey’s home-court winning streak at eight games.

Chicago 102, Detroit 95--B.J. Armstrong scored 23 points and Horace Grant 22 at Chicago as the Bulls dealt the Pistons their 50th loss.

Golden State 146, Minnesota 109--Chris Webber scored 21 points and Latrell Sprewell 20, leading eight Warriors in double figures at Oakland.