NBA ROUNDUP : Heat Starts Fast, Then Staggers to Victory

The Heat and the Golden State Warriors struck a blow for an NBA stereotype Friday night in Miami.

You know: You don’t need to watch until the last two minutes.

Miami led, 26-2, and had a 32-point lead in the third quarter, but still needed a free throw by Kevin Gamble with 8.5 seconds to play to clinch a 115-111 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

All’s well that ends well? Well, not really.

“Rather than step forward and take care of business, we decided to make the whole thing a hell of a game,” said Miami Coach Alvin Gentry, whose team won its third in a row, its longest streak of the season. “The only positive thing about it is that we got a win when we needed a win.”

Glen Rice paced Miami with 22 points but missed four free throws in the final 21.2 seconds to give the Warriors an opportunity to tie a game that had appeared hopelessly out of reach.

Latrell Sprewell scored 37 points, including 21 in the fourth quarter, but he missed a three-point shot with 12.1 seconds to play and Golden State three points behind.

Seattle 122, Portland 118--Gary Payton scored 32 points, one short of his career high, and the SuperSonics won at Portland.

Payton made his first eight shots and was 15 for 17 from the field.

Buck Williams had 22 points and 12 rebounds, Rod Strickland scored 21 and Aaron McKie 15 for Portland.

Houston 99, Phoenix 97--The Rockets won at Phoenix, despite Charles Barkley’s 34 points and a career-high 26 rebounds, and despite Houston scoring only two points in the last 2:45.

Sam Cassell made a free throw with 36 seconds left for a 98-97 lead, and Hakeem Olajuwon added one with 11 seconds remaining for his 25th point.

San Antonio 111, Minnesota 97--David Robinson scored 29 points and sparked a third-quarter run that blew the game open as the Spurs won at Minneapolis.

Robinson scored eight points in a 21-8 run that began the third quarter, opening an 80-58 lead for the Spurs, who have won six in a row.

Robinson added 13 rebounds, and Avery Johnson had 18 points and 12 assists as the Spurs ran their record to 25-4 since Jan. 24.

Cleveland 75, Atlanta 74--Bobby Phills’ free throw with 16 seconds remaining won for the Cavaliers, who got 24 points and 13 rebounds from Tyrone Hill at Cleveland.

Hill made four consecutive free throws to give Cleveland a 73-69 lead with 57.6 seconds remaining. Up, 74-71, Cleveland turned the ball over on a five-second call. Tyrone Corbin promptly hit a three-point shot for Atlanta to tie it, 74-74, with 33.6 seconds to play.

Phills was fouled by Mookie Blaylock and made one of two free throws for the winning margin.

Boston 107, Philadelphia 75--Dominique Wilkins had 26 points and 13 rebounds as the Celtics overpowered the 76ers at Philadelphia.

The Celtics, who broke a two-game losing streak, also got 18 points from Dino Radja.

Indiana 103, Sacramento 96--Rik Smits scored 31 points and Reggie Miller made four free throws with 7.5 seconds remaining as the Pacers won their fifth in a row at home and clinched a playoff spot.

Derrick McKey, who had 22 points, made a shot to put Indiana ahead, 97-96, with 1:05 remaining.

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NBA Notes

Seattle center Bill Cartwright, 37, underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow and was expected to be out at least three weeks. . . . The Miami Heat placed guard Ledell Eackles, sidelined with a sore left shoulder, on the injured list and signed guard Kevin Pritchard for the rest of the season.