NBA ROUNDUP : Elliott Puts Suns in Doghouse

After struggling with his shot earlier in the game, Sean Elliott found his touch in the clutch.

Elliott scored seven of his 19 points in the final two minutes Wednesday night to give the San Antonio Spurs a 105-100 comeback victory over the Phoenix Suns before an Alamodome crowd of 34,215, the largest in the NBA this season.

The Spurs have won three in a row and 12 of 14.

David Robinson scored 34 points, and Dennis Rodman grabbed 24 rebounds and did a good defensive job on Charles Barkley, who was limited to 22 points on seven-for-22 shooting from the field.

Phoenix has lost three of four after starting the month 5-1. The Suns, who lost to Boston on Tuesday night, have dropped two in a row for the first time this season.

Despite the victory, Barkley said he doesn’t consider the Spurs a contender in the Western Division.

“It’s a three-dog race and the Spurs aren’t one of them,” Barkley said. “They cannot beat us in a seven-game series. We have a better team than they do. They played as good as they can tonight, and we did not play very good and we still should have won.”

Elliott disagreed.

“You guys listen too much to Charles and what he’s saying,” Elliott said. “I think it’s good to be in our position. We might be able to surprise some people.”

San Antonio took its first lead of the second half on Elliott’s layup and foul shot with 1:48 left.

After Elliot Perry tied the game at 98 with 1:34 left, another jumper by Elliott gave San Antonio the lead for good 16 seconds later.

Portland 107, Golden State 89--Rod Strickland scored 35 points, including 12 in the third quarter at Oakland.

Strickland, whose point total was one less than his career high, also had 14 assists and eight rebounds.

Portland remained unbeaten against the Warriors in three games this season despite losing Clifford Robinson to a first-quarter ankle injury and Jerome Kersey to ejection in the second quarter.

Seattle 120, Minnesota 104--Kendall Gill scored 15 of his career-high 34 points in the third quarter and Shawn Kemp had 20 points and 13 rebounds at Tacoma, Wash. Gill made 15 of 19 shots, including eight in a row.

The victory was the 300th of Seattle Coach George Karl’s eight-year career.

Indiana 113, New Jersey 94--Reggie Miller scored 27 points and the Pacers shot 58% at East Rutherford, N.J., for their fourth victory in a row.

The loss spoiled the return of Derrick Coleman to the Nets’ lineup. The power forward had 14 points and 10 rebounds after sitting out six games because of a chip fracture of his pelvic bone.

Charlotte 100, Sacramento 89--Alonzo Mourning had 29 points and 17 rebounds as the Hornets won at home.

Hersey Hawkins, who had 17 points, had two steals in a 10-2 run that gave Charlotte a 95-85 lead with 1:27 remaining.

Milwaukee 100, Washington 92--Todd Day scored 21 points and ignited a late 7-0 run at Milwaukee to help hand the Bullets their 11th loss in 12 games.