NBA PLAYOFFS : Not Letting Sleeping Hawks Lie, Heat Chokes, Then Loses Game

The Atlanta Hawks had just fought off a Miami Heat rally, but there was still a sense of lethargy about, so Danny Manning issued a wake-up call with two flagrant fouls.

The Heat wasn’t about to take it lying down.

Grant Long’s hard foul on Atlanta’s Duane Ferrell was retaliatory, and it ignited a third-quarter melee in the Hawks’ 104-86 victory Saturday night that evened the best-of-five first-round playoff series at 1-1.

The fight, which emptied both benches and interrupted the game for seven minutes, “pumped us up and the fans and got us and the fans back in the game. It was an emotional influence,” Ferrell said.

Ferrell scored 10 of his 23 points after the brawl, and Atlanta pulled away in the fourth quarter.

The fight started after Ferrell scored a rebound basket and was fouled by Long. Ferrell taunted Long, who began choking him as other players on the court started pushing and shoving and both benches emptied. Reserves Keith Askins of the Heat and Doug Edwards of Atlanta were ejected, as was Long.

Miami assistant coach Alvin Gentry broke his right hand and a finger trying to break up the fight, as police officers, coaches and trainers came onto the court trying to help the officials restore order.

Referee Ed F. Rush said Manning’s fouls were not cause for ejection, but Miami Coach Kevin Loughery disagreed.

“We were protecting ourselves,” Loughery said. “It is ridiculous to allow a guy to get two flagrant fouls like that.”

Utah 96, San Antonio 84--Fight night also had a show at San Antonio, where Dennis Rodman was ejected with 3:16 to play when he had a few words for the Jazz after a scrap with John Stockton.

Stockton, who scored only three points in the series’ first game, had 17 before leaving because of a thigh bruise he suffered in the exchange with Rodman.

Karl Malone was less concerned about Rodman.

“He’s got to hit me harder than that. My daughter hits harder than that,” Malone taunted.

Malone had 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz, who evened the series, 1-1, by holding San Antonio without a field goal in 25 shots over a 16-minute span of the second and third quarters.

Indiana 103, Orlando 101--Reggie Miller scored 32 points at Orlando, where the Pacers limited Shaquille O’Neal to a season-low 15 points to move closer to winning their first NBA playoff series.

The Pacers took a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Seattle 97, Denver 87--Gary Payton scored 18 points and Sam Perkins made a critical three-pointer in the final three minutes as the SuperSonics overcame 27-for-42 free-throw shooting at Seattle to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

Perkins’ three-pointer came with 2:47 to play and gave Seattle a 90-81 lead after the Nuggets fought back from a 14-point deficit with eight consecutive points to cut the SuperSonics’ lead to 87-81.