NBA ROUNDUP : Jazz Beats Pacers for 8th in Row

Jeff Hornacek scored 22 points and Karl Malone added 21 as the Utah Jazz extended its winning streak to eight games with a 117-95 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night at Salt Lake City.

John Stockton added 18 points and 12 assists as Utah won for the 15th time in its last 18 games.

Reggie Miller scored 18 points to lead Indiana, which had defeated Denver before taking on the well-rested Jazz, who had not played since completing a 6-0 trip last Thursday.

Miller made seven of 10 shots, including a three-pointer, but was shadowed throughout the game by Hornacek. Byron Scott scored 16 points, and Sam Mitchell added 15 for the Pacers.

Utah improved its record against Eastern Conference teams to 11-1.

Chicago 105, Boston 97--The only thing that bothered Coach Phil Jackson about his Bulls after their victory at Boston Garden was his team’s lack of a killer instinct.

“It was a good win, but I was disappointed we got out to an 18-point lead and the Celtics were able to bring it back to six,” Jackson said. “I thought the guys, when they were ready to run, would want to push it up to 25. Instead they messed around and let the Celtics back into the game.”

The Bulls did manage to hold onto an eight-point victory as Toni Kukoc scored 27 points and six other Bulls joined him in double figures.

B.J. Armstrong, Pete Myers and Will Perdue scored 13 points apiece; Scottie Pippen added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Steve Kerr and Bill Wennington each contributed 11 points as the Bulls won their fourth straight game at Boston Garden.

The Celtics dropped their fourth consecutive game and 11th in their last 14.

Cleveland 91, Washington 75--Hot as they are, the Cavaliers still are taking no team for granted. Not even the Bullets.

“We walk a fine line. We can’t expect to walk onto the floor and have teams roll over for us,” Mark Price said at Cleveland after the Cavaliers moved to the brink of a team record with their 10th consecutive victory.

Bobby Phills scored 22 points and Tyrone Hill had 21 points and 15 rebounds for Cleveland, which needs one more victory to match the franchise mark of 11 in a row set last February and March.

Washington, which has lost 10 of its last 11, was held to 31 points in the second half and finished with a season-low total. It marked the fourth time during the winning streak that the Cavaliers have yielded fewer than 80 points; only one team has reached 100 against them during that span.

New York 101, Detroit 93--Patrick Ewing came up big in New York just as the Knicks were getting smaller.

Ewing matched his season high with 30 points, and Derek Harper and John Starks each hit two three-pointers in the final minutes to help the Knicks end a three-game losing streak at Madison Square Garden.

The victory was the Knicks’ sixth straight against the Pistons, who dropped their fourth in a row and ninth in 10 games despite 24 points by Joe Dumars and 21 by rookie Grant Hill.

New York, whose starting power forward Charles Oakley underwent toe surgery on his right foot earlier in the week, lost backup center Herb Williams to a broken left hand early in the second quarter.

Seattle 121, Philadelphia 102--Kendall Gill scored five of his 25 points in the final 3:34 while leading a late 17-5 surge in Tacoma, and the SuperSonics won their 13th straight home game.

Led by Dana Barros and Willie Burton, the 76ers trimmed a 23-point first-half deficit to 104-97 before Gill, Gary Payton and Detlef Schrempf sparked Seattle’s big finish.

Payton and Schrempf scored 23 points apiece.

NBA Notes

Kenny Anderson of the New Jersey Nets was a no-show at practice. “It’s always something,” Coach Butch Beard said. “Somebody’s always gone. Somebody’s always missing. It will drive you crazy sometimes. I don’t know where he is. He’s AWOL. He’s probably getting some rest, but I’m a little surprised that he’s not here.” Center Derrick Coleman, recovering from a badly cut hand, returned to the team. . . . Don Nelson, who has missed the Golden State Warriors’ last five games while recovering from viral pneumonia, is expected to return to the bench Tuesday at Oakland against the San Antonio Spurs.