Dumars and Hill Power Pistons Past Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks were missing Steve Smith and Alan Henderson because of injuries, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The biggest problem was that the Detroit Pistons had Joe Dumars back from a shoulder injury and Grant Hill at 100 percent again after a long bout with flu.

Dumars and Hill combined for 35 points to help Detroit post an 87-85 victory at Auburn Hills, Mich.

“Joe gave us a great lift and Grant made some big plays,” Piston Coach Doug Collins said. “I told Joe this morning that I had never asked him to play before, but that we really needed him today. We desperately needed this one.”

The score was tied at 58-58 after three quarters and stayed tight until the Pistons opened up an 81-75 lead with a 13-3 spurt. The key to the run was Brian Williams dominating Dikembe Mutombo by scoring six points, holding Atlanta’s center to none and drawing a key offensive foul.

“Every time we got there tonight, we just couldn’t get ahead,” Atlanta Coach Lenny Wilkens said. “I’m happy with our effort, but not about losing.”

It was the second consecutive loss for the Hawks after opening the season 11-0.

Cleveland 110, Washington 101--Rookie Brevin Knight had an NBA season-high 20 assists, Wesley Person scored 31 points and Shawn Kemp had 24 points at Cleveland.

Knight, who had 13 points, finished five short of the NBA rookie assist record set by Ernie DiGregorio in 1974 and matched by Nate McMillan in 1987. Knight won a duel of point guards against Rod Strickland, who had 27 points and 17 assists.

Wizard forward Chris Webber went down hard twice in the first quarter and had to be carried off the court after hyperextending his right knee and bruising his left knee.

Miami 108, Toronto 104--Isaac Austin recorded career highs of 33 points and 22 rebounds at Miami as the Heat extended the Raptors’ franchise-record losing streak to nine.

Dan Majerle, who came off the injured list before the game, scored 16 points and made five of six shots from three-point range.

John Wallace paced the Raptors with 28 points. Damon Stoudamire had 21 points and 11 assists.

The Heat waived swingman Todd Day and activated Dan Majerle from the injured list before the game.

Charlotte 95, Indiana 94--Vlade Divac hit a free throw with 2.6 seconds left and Indiana turned the ball over on its last possession after overcoming an 18-point deficit in the second half.

Glen Rice led five Hornets in double figures with 22 and Divac had 18. Reggie Miller topped the Pacers with 23 points, including 12 in a row as the Pacers rallied to tie the score at 87-87 on his jumper with 3:53 to play.

The Hornets, who won their fourth in a row and ended Indiana’s three-game winning streak, held for a final shot and Divac was fouled. He made the first shot and missed the second.

Orlando 108, Philadelphia 94--Derek Strong had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Horace Grant added 20 points on 10-for-13 shooting at Philadelphia.

Strong had 17 of his points in the first half as the Magic shot 67 percent to take a 62-41 halftime lead. Jerry Stackhouse scored 16 points and rookie Tim Thomas had a season-high 14 points for the 76ers, who have lost two of three and are 1-5 at home this season. The shooting percentage was the highest at the Corestates Center this season and the point total matched the most against the 76ers in a half this season.

Houston 90, Golden State 84--Kevin Willis, subbing for the injured Charles Barkley, had 22 points and 19 rebounds at Houston as the Rockets continued to dig out of their early season slump.

The Rockets won their third consecutive game after losing their previous four. The Warriors dropped to 1-10.

Milwaukee 83, Dallas 62--Terrell Brandon scored 18 points and Ray Allen added 17 as the Bucks dealt Dallas its ninth consecutive defeat and held the Mavericks to a franchise-low for points at Dallas.

The Mavericks hit 31.6 percent from the field (24 for 76). Milwaukee also piled up a 56-40 rebounding edge.

Glenn Robinson had 16 points and Armon Gilliam added 12 for the Bucks, who had lost three of their previous four.

Utah 103, San Antonio 74--Karl Malone had 20 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists before getting ejected at Salt Lake City, where the Jazz used a 27-2 first-half run to coast to victory.

All five starters scored at least nine points for Utah (6-6), while the Spurs (7-5) made only 11 field goals in the first half and suffered their second blowout loss in as many nights.

Jeff Hornacek scored 19 points for Utah, Adam Keefe scored a season-high 15 and Howard Eisley had 13.

New Jersey 93, Portland 87--Jayson Williams put the Nets ahead on a three-point play with 28 seconds to go and Chris Gatling made two big defensive plays down the stretch at East Rutherford, N.J.

All five Net starters scored in double figures as New Jersey won for the fifth time in six home games and rebounded from a loss at Boston on Friday night in which Gatling and guard Sam Cassell had a heated argument.

Seattle 84, Denver 80--Gary Payton and Detlef Schrempf combined to score 11 of Seattle’s last 13 points, and the SuperSonics rallied to defeat the winless Nuggets at Denver.

Payton scored six points and Schrempf five over the final six minutes to help erase a 76-71 deficit. Seattle outscored Denver, 13-4, during that rally.

Payton finished with 20 points and Schrempf 12 as the SuperSonics overcame 38 percent shooting.

Notes

The Miami Heat waived swingman Todd Day and activated Dan Majerle from the injured list prior to its game against the Toronto Raptors.