Heat Has One for the Road

Tim Hardaway and the Miami Heat were trying to prove something, and they weren’t about to let the Detroit Pistons stand in the way--even on the Pistons’ home court.

Despite playing without injured Alonzo Mourning, the Heat, aided by Hardaway’s 28 points and a season-high 16 assists, beat the Pistons, 108-99, Tuesday at Auburn Hills, Mich.

“This win was for us,” Hardaway said. “We needed to show ourselves that we can still go on the road and beat a very good basketball team.”

The Heat improved to 2-0 against the Pistons and handed Detroit its second loss in 11 games. Detroit gave up 100 or more points for only the sixth time this year--twice against Miami.

Voshon Lenard added 21 points for the Heat, including five three-point baskets, and Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown had 18 each. Isaac Austin, who replaced Mourning, had 14 points and five rebounds. The Heat is 3-2 since Mourning suffered a foot injury.

“Before Zo went out, we were scoring this many points a game, but since then, we’ve been winning with defense,” Miami Coach Pat Riley said. “Tonight, though, we got some great shooting from Voshon, Jamal and Tim. These are two very similar teams, and sometimes being undermanned like we were gives you an emotional edge.”

Orlando 101, Seattle 89--After being held scoreless in the first half, Penny Hardaway scored 26 points in the second half at Seattle.

The Magic, who lost to the SuperSonics in Orlando on Sunday, handed the Pacific Division leaders only their second loss since the All-Star break.

Rony Seikaly and Gerald Wilkins had 18 points each for the Magic, who improved to 7-1 under Coach Richie Adubato. The loss dropped the SuperSonics to 22-8 at home, where they lost three games last season.

Gary Payton paced Seattle with 23 points, 22 in the second half, and Shawn Kemp had six points and 18 rebounds.

New York 93, Milwaukee 86--Patrick Ewing was the latest superstar center to get injured, but his return in the fourth quarter sparked the Knicks’ victory in New York.

The Knicks were leading, 85-69, with 6:16 to play when Ewing headed to the locker room to be treated for a bruised right knee after he had earlier collided with Sherman Douglas.

Milwaukee scored the next 15 points, including seven by Ray Allen and six by Glenn Robinson, before Knick forward Larry Johnson converted a three-point play for an 88-84 lead with 1:28 left.

After Vin Baker’s jump shot cut the deficit to two, Ewing came back to make one of two foul shots to give the Knicks an 89-86 lead with 51 seconds left.

Charlotte 105, San Antonio 98--Anthony Mason had his third career triple-double with 19 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists at Charlotte.

Glen Rice had 24 points and Dell Curry 20 to help Charlotte win for the eighth time in nine games.

Carl Herrera had 21 points and Vinny Del Negro 17.

San Antonio injury problems continued. Center Will Perdue had 12 points and seven rebounds before leaving in the fourth quarter because of a strained left hamstring.

Washington 107, Philadelphia 106--Calbert Cheaney scored a season-high 24 points, including six of his team’s final 10 at Philadelphia.

Cheaney’s biggest basket came with 19 seconds to play, when his baseline jump shot gave the Bullets a 105-103 lead.

Juwan Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Indiana 98, Boston 95--Mark Jackson’s six consecutive free throws in the final minute helped the Pacers hold off the Celtics at Indiana.

Atlanta 93, Cleveland 88--Christian Laettner and Tyrone Corbin scored 21 points at Atlanta.

Portland 123, New Jersey 118--The Trail Blazers outscored the Nets in the fourth quarter, 33-15, to turn the game around at Portland.

Kenny Anderson and Clifford Robinson scored 28 points for the Trail Blazers.