Suns Set on Utah’s 15-Game Win Streak

It took a while--13 games and two coaches, actually--for the Phoenix Suns to come together.

That they have was shown Thursday night in Salt Lake City, where the Suns got 14 fourth-quarter points from Sam Cassell in a 95-87 victory that ended Utah’s season-best winning streak at 15 games.

After a 0-13 start, many of the losses coming under former coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, Phoenix is 6-1, with five wins in a row, for Danny Ainge.

“We’re starting to jell as a team, to win a ballgame like this down the stretch,” said Cassell, who finished with 21 points. “In the fourth quarter, my teammates put me in position to make the shots.”

Mark Bryant scored off a pass from Kevin Johnson to break an 83-83 tie and give Phoenix the lead for good with 1:32 to play.

Cassell and Rex Chapman each made two free throws to increase the Suns’ lead to 89-83 with 27.1 seconds to play. Cassell added two more free throws and Chapman made four in the last 17.4 seconds to stave off Utah’s final bid.

Johnson scored 17 points and Chapman added 16--10 in the final quarter--for the Suns. Karl Malone led Utah with 27 points and 12 rebounds, and Jeff Hornacek added 20 points.

“It’s just one game, but give them credit,” said Malone, who got off only four shots in the fourth quarter. “We did everything we could in the first half to help them win it. Their team has better players than their record shows.”

Milwaukee 100, Seattle 97--Ray Allen and Vin Baker each made two free throws in the closing seconds for the Bucks, who won in Milwaukee.

Allen, a rookie guard given a chance to run the Bucks’ offense down the stretch, made five of eight free throws in the final 1:33. He finished with 17 points, and the Bucks ended a nine-game losing streak against Seattle, including the last four in Milwaukee.

Gary Payton led the SuperSonics with 31 points and Detlef Schrempf added 21 for Seattle, which lost for the fifth time in seven games after opening the season 14-3.

Houston 115, Detroit 96--Clyde Drexler had 27 points and Charles Barkley added 26, 15 of them coming on three-point baskets for the Rockets in Houston, where they shredded a Detroit defense that was giving up only 84.3 points a game.

The 115 points was a season high against the Pistons, whose five-game winning streak ended when they gave up 100 points for the first time this season.

Hakeem Olajuwon had 21 points for the Rockets, the top-scoring team in the NBA and the team with the league’s best record (19-2).

New York 90, Golden State 79--Patrick Ewing led four Knicks who had double figures in rebounds with 20, and New York outrebounded the Warriors, 61-39, in a victory at home.

The Knicks used a Chris Childs-led 9-0 run in the third quarter to turn a four-point lead into a 62-49 advantage and take control of the game.

Childs made a three-point basket, pushed the ball upcourt for two fastbreak layups by Larry Johnson and finished the run with a layup of his own for New York, which has won five games in a row.

Sacramento 93, Dallas 86--Mitch Richmond scored 24 points, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf had 22 and the Kings scored the game’s final six points on free throws in the last 37.7 seconds at Sacramento.

The Mavericks rallied from an 11-point deficit in the final quarter, largely on Chris Gatling’s 16 points in the period, and pulled to within 87-86 with 1:03 to play.

Portland 99, Vancouver 78--Kenny Anderson scored 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who were never behind in easily beating Vancouver in Portland.

Clifford Robinson scored 17 points, and Rasheed Wallace added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who have defeated the Grizzlies four times in a row.