NBA ROUNDUP : Heat’s Rice Has the Magic Touch With 56

Glen Rice didn’t merely top Shaquille O’Neal. He even outscored Michael Jordan.

Shooting almost exclusively from the perimeter, Rice scored 56 points--a franchise record and an NBA high this season--to lead the Miami Heat past the struggling Orlando Magic, 123-117, Saturday at Miami.

Jordan had the previous league high with 55 points last month against the New York Knicks.

Rice scored 13 points in the final five minutes to pull away in his scoring duel with O’Neal, who had 38 points and 16 rebounds.

Rice made 20 of 27 shots, including seven of eight three-point attempts, and sank nine of 10 free throws.

A national television audience watched as Rice, who won the three-point shooting contest on All-Star weekend in February, broke his own team record of 46 points.

“Even if Dennis Rodman was on him, he was going to get his points,” Magic forward Horace Grant said. “You can’t explain it. Phenomenal. It’s like those unsolved mysteries you see on television.”

Orlando’s magic number for clinching the top playoff seeding in the Eastern Conference remained two. But the Magic has lost five consecutive road games and 14 of 18 overall.

Seattle 115, Golden State 99--Gary Payton, playing with a broken finger, scored 24 points, and Kendall Gill, back after treatment for clinical depression, capped a fourth-quarter run that led the SuperSonics over the Warriors at Oakland.

Detlef Schrempf added 23 points as Seattle won for the 11th time in 13 games.

Payton, who broke his left ring finger Thursday night against Dallas, played in his 287th consecutive game.

Gill had not played since he returned to the team Tuesday, a week after taking a medical leave for treatment of clinical depression. He scored 10 points, including two baskets that finished off a 15-2 burst in the final period.

Philadelphia 97, New Jersey 87--Backup guard Jeff Grayer made eight of his first nine shots and scored 21 points as the 76ers eliminated the Nets from playoff contention with a victory at East Rutherford, N.J.

The loss was the 13th in the last 15 games for New Jersey, which missed the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.

Shawn Bradley had 15 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks for the 76ers.

Boston 129, Detroit 104--Dominique Wilkins scored 26 points as the Celtics beat the Pistons at Hartford, Conn., to open a three-game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks in the battle for the the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot.

Dee Brown scored 22 points and Derek Strong 20 for the Celtics. Grant Hill led Detroit with 27 points.

Washington 114, Milwaukee 110--Rookie Juwan Howard tied his season high with 31 points as the Bullets broke a 13-game losing streak by beating the Bucks at Landover, Md.

Chris Webber had 29 points and 10 rebounds, and Doug Overton scored 16 points as the Bullets won for the first time in four games against Milwaukee this season.

Vin Baker had 30 points and 17 rebounds for the Bucks, who have lost six of seven on the road. Glenn Robinson added 27 points.

Houston 98, Sacramento 84--Kenny Smith scored 18 points at Houston, including 11 in a breakaway third quarter, as the Rockets won their second consecutive game with Hakeem Olajuwon back in the lineup.

After taking a 47-45 halftime lead, the Rockets used a 13-2 run to take a 72-61 lead with 2:12 left in the third quarter. The margin was 76-64 at the start of the fourth.

The Kings, who fell 1 1/2 games behind Denver in the race for the Western Conference’s final playoff berth, have lost their last 24 games at The Summit.

Olajuwon played his second game since recovering from iron-deficiency anemia that caused him to sit out eight games.

Dallas 102, Portland 90--Jamal Mashburn scored 29 points, and Roy Tarpley had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help the Mavericks keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a victory at Portland.

The Mavericks moved within three games of the Nuggets for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.