Rockets Can’t Take Heat, Score Only 66

The Miami Heat never expected its 11th consecutive road victory would be so easy.

The Heat held the undermanned Houston Rockets to their lowest point total ever Saturday night in an 86-66 victory at Houston.

“We didn’t want this one to get away, not with them short-handed,” said Voshon Lenard, who came off the bench to score 22 points to lead the Heat.

Miami limited Houston, the NBA’s top-scoring team, to eight points in the fourth quarter.

“No one said it would be easy,” said the Rockets’ Hakeem Olajuwon, who finished with 20 points, one of only two Houston players in double figures. “This is character-building for a championship team. There are always a few bumps in the road but we will get back on track.”

The Rockets, losing for the third time in a row, played without Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley--both serving suspensions. They made only 23 of 71 shots in breaking their previous scoring low for a game, 69 points against Detroit on Dec. 4, 1974.

The Rockets had been averaging 103.8 points a game.

San Antonio 101, Phoenix 88--The Spurs are starting to play better under Coach Gregg Popovich, who replaced Bob Hill on Dec. 10. The Spurs lost their first two games under Popovich, but with this victory at San Antonio they have won three in a row.

Sean Elliott scored a season-high 29 points, including five three-pointers, to lead the Spurs. Dominique Wilkins added 24 points.

“I think our attitude has changed,” said David Robinson, who sat out the first 18 games of the season because of a bad back. “My first game back [against Phoenix] it was so low, it wasn’t even funny.”

Robinson, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds, hit the floor shortly before halftime but was all right. “When David went down, I was scared to death,” Popovich said.

New York 95, Detroit 92--Patrick Ewing scored 30 points and the Knicks followed Coach Jeff Van Gundy’s verbal trashing of the Pistons with one of their most spirited games of the year to win at New York.

The Knicks led for the final 47 minutes and avenged their worst defeat in 10 seasons, a 112-78 loss on Wednesday.

In the 34-point loss at Detroit, the Knicks’ Allan Houston, in his first game against his former teammates, was booed every time he touched the ball and scored only two points--a statistic that was left on the scoreboard after the rest of the lights had been turned off.

“I could not believe the lack of class shown by the Detroit organization at the end of the game, leaving Allan’s points on the scoreboard,” Van Gundy told reporters before the game. “They showed as little class as they possibly could.”

Piston spokesman Matt Dobek said, “It was probably done by some kid who makes $4 an hour.”

Chicago 111, Philadelphia 105--There was a different kind of scoreboard problem during this game at Philadelphia. It kept malfunctioning. At one point, it had the 76ers leading by 99.

“When you looked up, you really didn’t know who was leading the game,” the Bulls’ Scottie Pippen said. “When the score isn’t officially right, you kind of lose some momentum.”

It didn’t matter, though, as Michael Jordan scored 31 points, Pippen chipped in 22, and Dennis Rodman had 12 points and 18 rebounds as the Bulls handed the 76ers their 10th consecutive loss.

Charlotte 98, Atlanta 93--The Hawks missed 15 shots in a row over 8 1/2 minutes to fall behind by 25 points in the third quarter, but rallied to make things close at Charlotte, N.C.

Dell Curry had 19 points and Anthony Mason added 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, whose lead was trimmed to four points. Charlotte won for the sixth time in eight games, with the only losses in that span coming against the Bulls.

Milwaukee 103, Orlando 85--Glenn Robinson scored 10 of his 24 points in the first quarter as the Bucks took command early and cruised to a victory over the Magic at Milwaukee.

Orlando was without top scorers Penny Hardaway (tendinitis in the left knee) and Nick Anderson (injured wrist).

Sacramento 101, Portland 99--Mitch Richmond, who had 37 points, scored on an alley-oop with two-tenths of a second left in overtime at Sacramento.

Rasheed Wallace had 38 for the Trail Blazers.

New Jersey 101, Boston 100--The Nets’ Kendall Gill picked a good time to break out of his slump, scoring 13 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, including a 12-foot jumper with 1.5 seconds left at East Rutherford, N.J.