NBA ROUNDUP : Abdul-Rauf Burns Jazz With 51 Points; Stockton Injured

Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf had a memorable game on a night that John Stockton might rather forget.

Abdul-Rauf scored an NBA-season-high 51 points, making nine three-pointers, and the Denver Nuggets, who nearly blew a 22-point fourth-quarter lead, held on for a 124-119 victory over the Utah Jazz, who lost Stockton to a left ankle sprain at Salt Lake City.

Abdul-Rauf, whose previous career high was 39, was 17 for 27, including nine for 14 from three-point range. He scored four points in the game’s final 28 seconds, including a 17-footer with 27.5 seconds to play that gave Denver a 119-114 lead.

“I just went out and tried to be more aggressive offensively, because the last two games against this team I don’t think I did that,” Abdul-Rauf said. “Plus, we haven’t won too many games here and I really wanted it bad.”

Denver, which stopped a six-game losing streak at Utah, led, 105-83, with 9:40 to play, but the Jazz closed to 119-117 after a three-pointer by Jeff Hornacek with 22.5 seconds left. Dikembe Mutombo then made two free throws with 15.1 seconds remaining, and Jalen Rose made one and Abdul-Rauf converted two free throws in the last 8.2 seconds.

Karl Malone led Utah with 27 points and 22 rebounds.

Abdul-Rauf scored 17 points in the first quarter, but he was just getting loose. He had 26 by halftime, and 42 by the end of the third period. His performance outdid the season’s league high of 44 by Charlotte’s Larry Johnson.

Rauf’s nine three-pointers were one shy of the NBA record shared by Joe Dumars and Brian Shaw.

San Antonio 104, Atlanta 102--David Robinson scored 31 points, including two key free throws with eight seconds left, as the Spurs won their fifth consecutive game by beating the Hawks at Atlanta.

“The key was getting to the foul line,” said Robinson, who was 15 of 21 from the line. Atlanta was only eight of 12 overall from the line.

The Hawks lost their fourth in a row, wasting a career-high 28-point performance by Matt Bullard, who had scored only 18 points this season coming in.

Detroit 93, Vancouver 84--Allan Houston had 20 points and Joe Dumars scored eight in a 10-2 fourth-quarter run at Vancouver as the Pistons sent the Grizzlies to their its 17th consecutive defeat.

The victory snapped a 17-game road losing streak for Detroit and spoiled a career-high 31-point performance by Vancouver’s Greg Anthony.

Vancouver has tied Miami for the sixth-longest losing streak in league history. The league record for consecutive losses in one season is 20, set by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1973 and matched by the Dallas Mavericks in 1993.

Portland 96, Toronto 88--Clifford Robinson scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter in leading the Trail Blazers past the Raptors at Portland.