Olajuwon, Barkley Show Way for Rockets

The Houston Rockets appeared to have met their match.

The Washington Bullets held a 10-point fourth quarter lead. Bullet forward Chris Webber was shooting well from outside and the Rockets were without Clyde Drexler, who had been ejected early in the quarter.

The Rockets had nine minutes left to keep their winning streak alive and avoid their first road loss of the season.

They pulled together behind Hakeem Olajuwon’s 34 points and 17 rebounds and Charles Barkley’s 27 points and 10 rebounds to win their ninth in a row, 103-99, over the Bullets Saturday at Landover, Md.

Webber had 24 points for Washington on 11-for-12 shooting, and Juwan Howard scored 17.

“Truly amazing,” Houston Coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “Dream was big, and what can you say about Charles? I mean, the guy just makes big play after big play.”

The victory enabled the Rockets to remain the NBA’s only unbeaten team on the road. Houston also matched the best start in franchise history (15-1) and set a team record for wins in a month.

The Rockets’ only loss this season came at home against the Lakers in double overtime.

Chicago 97, San Antonio 88--Michael Jordan scored 35 points to become the second-fastest player in NBA history to reach 25,000 as the Bulls won at San Antonio.

Jordan, who needed 35 points to reach the 25,000 plateau, made an 18-footer from the right baseline with 29.4 seconds left to attain the milestone. He had missed his three previous shots.

Jordan reached the mark in 782 games, 91 more than it took Wilt Chamberlain to accomplish the feat.

New York 115, Sacramento 101--John Starks made a move to regain his starting position, scoring all 13 points of his points in the fourth quarter at New York.

Starks hit a three-point shot to give the Knicks an 84-82 lead and then scored five more points during a 14-2 run. Starks lost his starting job when the Knicks signed free agent Allan Houston, but he still is second on the team with a 14.5-point scoring average.

Philadelphia 96, Vancouver 90--Jerry Stackhouse scored 31 points and Allen Iverson added 23, including five during a late 7-0 run, as the 76ers won at home despite making 25 turnovers.

Miami 78, Boston 77--Dee Brown and Todd Day missed shots in the final four seconds at Miami as the Heat held on to win a franchise-record seventh consecutive game. Alonzo Mourning had 17 points and 16 rebounds.

Minnesota 79, Toronto 70--Tom Gugliotta highlighted an otherwise dismal offensive game with 25 points as the Timberwolves won for the second time in as many nights at Minneapolis.

Both teams shot below 40%.

Charlotte 94, Milwaukee 87--Glen Rice scored 23 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter as the Hornets won on the road.

Orlando 86, Cleveland 82--Horace Grant scored 21 points and Gerald Wilkins added 18 to lead the Magic at Cleveland.