Heat Scores 21 in Second Half

At the end, Pat Riley couldn’t bear to watch.

He sat down on the bench, rubbed his eyes in pained disgust and tried to absorb a record-breaking night for his Miami Heat, who scored only 21 points in the second half Friday and lost, 85-77, to the injury-plagued Hawks at Atlanta.

The Hawks, who often had four minimum-salary players on the court because of injuries to starting guards Steve Smith and Mookie Blaylock, trailed, 56-38, at halftime but completely shut down Miami over the final two quarters.

The Heat, who scored 13 points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth, broke the record for fewest points in a second half. The previous mark of 24 was shared by five teams, including Miami.

The record for any half is still held by the New Orleans Jazz, who managed only 20 points in the first half of a 1975 game against Seattle.

“That was an incredible display in the second half of totally incompetent basketball,” said Riley.

Indiana 93, San Antonio 78--Derrick McKey and Fred Hoiberg scored 15 points each and Dale Davis added 19 rebounds to lead the Pacers at San Antonio.

San Antonio went scoreless for a span of 9:48 in the third quarter and the Pacers used a 19-0 run to take a 72-46 lead. The Spurs scored less than 80 points for the fifth time this season.

Chicago 110, Charlotte 87--Michael Jordan made short work of the fizzling Hornets, scoring 38 points in less than three quarters to lead the Bulls at Charlotte, N.C.

Jordan made 15 of 25 shots before leaving with 1:56 left in the third period.

Detroit 95, Washington 84--Grant Hill scored 27 points, and Otis Thorpe had 20 points and 12 rebounds as the surging Pistons defeated the Bullets at Auburn Hills, Mich.

Detroit, which wore dark blue replicas of their 1957 Fort Wayne uniforms, got 25 points from Joe Dumars.

Denver 82, Boston 80--Dale Ellis scored 36 points and Ervin Johnson had three free throws in the final minute as the Nuggets defeated the Celtics at Boston.

The Celtics led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, but the Nuggets caught up and took a 69-67 lead on a three-point basket by Ellis with 8:36 left.

Portland 93, New Jersey 85--Kenny Anderson scored 22 points and the Trail Blazers beat the Nets at East Rutherford, N.J., sending Coach John Calipari and the Nets to their fifth consecutive loss--the worst start in team history.

Clifford Robinson, removed from the starting lineup for disciplinary reasons, added 21 points in three quarters and Isaiah Rider had 15.

Utah 104, Vancouver 96--Karl Malone scored 21 points and Greg Ostertag had his second consecutive big game with career highs of 16 points and 20 rebounds as the Jazz defeated the Grizzlies at Salt Lake City.

Sacramento 103, Milwaukee 99--Mitch Richmond scored 12 of his 30 points in the fourth period as the Kings defeated the Bucks at Sacramento.

Richmond put the Kings ahead, 88-87, on a jumper midway through the fourth quarter and scored eight of the Kings’ next 14 points as they built a 102-97 lead.