Suns Wipe Out Big Deficit to Outlast Fizzling Rockets

Cliff Robinson made a jumper from the free-throw line with three-tenths of a second left to give the Phoenix Suns, who came back from 16 points down, a 96-94 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Sunday night.

Clyde Drexler, whose three-point basket tied the game with 14 seconds remaining, took an in-bounds pass and got off a final shot, but hit the top of the backboard, and the Rockets lost for the fourth consecutive game.

“When Clyde hit that shot, I thought, ‘Well, here we go again,”’ Sun guard Rex Chapman said. “But Cliff hit a big shot and got fouled [no foul was called]. It was an ugly game, but we’ll take it.”

Kevin Johnson had 30 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the Suns, who started 6-1 for the first time in 13 years. Jason Kidd had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

“It’s the law of averages,” Johnson said. “We’re playing Houston, and we know every time we play Houston that’s a tough ballgame.”

Hakeem Olajuwon had 22 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, but nobody else had more than 13 points for the Rockets.

New Jersey 77, Cleveland 72--Jayson Williams was having X-rays taken before the game. Sam Cassell was stricken with flu.

It looked as if the injury-plagued Nets had another long night ahead of them.

But Sherman Douglas scored 25 points and Kerry Kittles 23 as the Nets defeated the Cavaliers in front of 12,860, the smallest NBA crowd in Cleveland since 1992.

“When I got out of bed, I was really dizzy,” said Cassell, who sat out the first half. “I felt like a dog.”

With Cassell on the bench for half the game, Douglas and Kittles outscored Cleveland’s starting backcourt, 48-12. Douglas, acquired by Cleveland this off-season but quickly traded, made 10 of 19 shots.

Shawn Kemp had 14 points and 11 rebounds and played the final eight minutes with five fouls.

Seattle 119, Milwaukee 99--Vin Baker scored 20 points, and Jim McIlvaine had 10 points and 10 rebounds in his first start of the season for the SuperSonics at Seattle.

Eight players were in double figures as the SuperSonics reached a season-high in scoring while beating the Bucks for the eighth consecutive time in Seattle. Detlef Schrempf had 19 points and Gary Payton 16.

Baker had 14 points in the first half in his first game against his former team.