NBA ROUNDUP : Mavericks Learn While Winning

The young, improving Dallas Mavericks won another game and learned another lesson in the process Friday night at Dallas.

After wasting most of a 25-point lead, the Mavericks survived a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Portland Trail Blazers to win, 101-91.

“You can’t slack off in this league, no matter what kind of a lead you have,” said Jim Jackson, who scored 19 of his 31 points in the third quarter as the Mavericks built an 85-60 advantage early in the fourth quarter. “It’s good for us to learn that.”

Jamal Mashburn added 27 points. The Mavericks (5-4) didn’t win their fifth game last season until Feb. 24, their 54th game.

Cleveland 96, Washington 94--Tyrone Hill said his inspiration had nothing to do with his matchup against Chris Webber. Cleveland Coach Mike Fratello thought otherwise.

Regardless, Hill’s numbers were impressive: 25 points, 16 rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot in the Cavaliers’ victory at Baltimore.

Webber had 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds in 31 minutes. It was his second game and first start with the Bullets since being traded from Golden State.

Orlando 124, Boston 118--Shaquille O’Neal scored 36 points, Anfernee Hardaway scored 35 and the Magic used a third-quarter surge to win their sixth consecutive game.

O’Neal triggered the Magic’s comeback in Boston from a 10-point deficit with just over six minutes remaining in the third period. He then went to the bench and watched his teammates go on a 29-8 run.

Utah 124, Chicago 94--Karl Malone scored 27 points and Felton Spencer added 19 points and 11 rebounds at Salt Lake City as the Jazz handed the Bulls their worst loss of the season.

Chicago was led by Scottie Pippen with 15 points in 28 minutes. Greg Foster, starting in place of the injured Will Perdue, scored 13, as did Dickey Simpkins.

Indiana 111, Milwaukee 106--Rik Smits scored 11 of his season-high 30 points in the fourth quarter as the Pacers rallied to beat the Bucks at Indianapolis.

The victory gave Indiana a 7-3 record, its best start since opening the 1980-81 season by winning eight of its first 11 games. Todd Day scored a career-high 31 points to lead Milwaukee.

Philadelphia 109, Minnesota 71--The 76ers set a club record for fewest points allowed in defeating the Timberwolves at Minneapolis.

It was the first time in franchise history that the 76ers had held an opponent below 75 points. Only a tip-in by Donyell Marshall with less than a second to play kept the Timberwolves from surpassing their low-point total of 70.

Miami 111, Detroit 97--The Heat broke a five-game road losing streak and won for the third time this season as Kevin Willis scored a season-high 30 points.

It was the second consecutive victory for the Heat, which has also won its last four games at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Seattle 114, San Antonio 94--Gary Payton scored 21 points and Detlef Schrempf added 20 as the SuperSonics rolled over the Spurs. Seattle took a 25-4 lead to begin the game at San Antonio, and the Spurs could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Sacramento 108, Denver 105 --Mitch Richmond scored seven of his 33 points in overtime as the Kings rallied from a 16-point third-quarter deficit at Sacramento.