Starks Bounces Back, Leads Knicks

John Starks followed up one of his worst games of the season with one of his best Saturday night, giving the New York Knicks an important victory in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Starks, a streak shooter, made seven three-point baskets and scored 26 points to lead the Knicks to a 102-97 victory over the Hawks at Atlanta.

On Friday, Starks made only four of 16 attempts as New York suffered a home loss to an injury-depleted Orlando team. But Saturday, Starks was seven of 12 from three-point range.

The Knicks handed Atlanta its fifth home loss and maintained their hold on the third seed in the East.

Mookie Blaylock had 32 points for Atlanta, which suffered from foul trouble on its front line.

“There were a lot of calls that were questionable out there,” said Christian Laettner, who fouled out along with Dikembe Mutombo. “Maybe the refs got confused. There were a lot of fans cheering for the Knicks, so maybe the refs thought this was Madison Square Garden.”

Seattle 103, Dallas 84--Gary Payton scored six of his 23 points during a game-breaking 9-0 run as the SuperSonics handed the Mavericks their 10th consecutive loss at Seattle.

Payton made back-to-back three-point plays and assisted on David Wingate’s three-point shot as the SuperSonics used the run for a 79-62 lead with 10:30 left.

The victory increased Seattle’s Pacific Division lead to 1 1/2 games over the Lakers.

Miami 98, Toronto 84--Tim Hardaway scored 11 of his 20 points in the third quarter as the Heat broke open a game that was tied at the half at Miami.

Alonzo Mourning had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Miami while Damon Stoudamire had 25 for Toronto.

Charlotte 115, Philadelphia 113--The Hornets struggled in their new role as a playoff qualifier before Matt Geiger’s tip-in at the buzzer gave them the victory at Charlotte, N.C.

Charlotte’s Malik Rose missed two free throws with 10 seconds left, but the Hornets got the rebound and Muggsy Bogues put up a 15-footer from the right baseline with four seconds left.

The shot was off the mark and bounced long to Vlade Divac, whose 12-footer from the left baseline also missed. But it went into the hands of Geiger, who tipped it in off the glass.

Phoenix 99, Portland 90--Kevin Johnson scored 30 points, including eight free throws during the last two minutes, as the Suns won at Portland, for their ninth consecutive victory.

The Suns, in seventh place in the Western Conference, could become the first team to make the playoffs after losing 13 or more consecutive to start the season.

Warriors 120, Spurs 103--Donyell Marshall tied his career high with 30 points and Chris Mullin reached 16,000 career points by scoring 22 as the Warriors won at San Jose.

Latrell Sprewell and Joe Smith each added 19 as the Warriors won three consecutive games for only the second time.