Knicks Get Last Word on Barkley, Rockets

Charles Barkley did plenty of talking in his annual trip to Madison Square Garden, but he didn’t back it up on the court.

Barkley was held to seven points on Sunday at New York and the Houston Rockets scored only eight in the fourth quarter in losing, 92-74, to the Knicks.

John Starks scored 16 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Knicks to their sixth victory in seven games since the All-Star break.

“They aren’t going to win a championship, that’s just a fact,” Barkley said. “The Bulls are coming out of the East unless Indiana beats them. The Knicks can’t beat Chicago or Indiana, and I’m not even sure they can beat Miami.”

Barkley may be correct, but the Knicks’ victory run has moved them into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Rockets dropped to 27-27.

Milwaukee 79, Cleveland 71--Glenn Robinson scored 29 points and Ray Allen scored eight of his 20 in the fourth quarter to lead the Bucks at Milwaukee.

The victory moved the Bucks to within a game of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Central Division and tightened the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Shawn Kemp had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Cleveland.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Cleveland.

Minnesota 113, Sacramento 95--Anthony Peeler scored 16 points in his first game for Minnesota, helping the Timberwolves defeat the Kings at Minneapolis.

Peeler, acquired Wednesday from Vancouver for guard Doug West, missed his first two shots but made six of his last seven, including two three-point baskets.

Sam Mitchell scored 17 points for the Timberwolves, who had seven players in double figures.

Mitch Richmond scored 32 points for the Kings.

Toronto 113, Vancouver 105--Newcomer Chauncey Billups scored 27 points, including 10 in overtime, at Toronto as the Raptors ended a six-game losing streak.

Billups, traded to the Raptors by the Boston Celtics last week, was five of 13 from the field, four of seven from three-point range and 13 of 16 from the foul line.

John Wallace scored 22 points for Toronto.

Indiana 97, Philadelphia 92--Reggie Miller scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half and made a key three-point shot with two minutes left at Philadelphia as the Pacers moved to within two games of first-place Chicago.

In a physical game, the Pacers beat the 76ers for the second time in four days and the ninth time in a row.

Chris Mullin scored 15 and Dale Davis had 10 points and eight rebounds. Allen Iverson scored 33 points for the 76ers.

Miami 90, Golden State 82--P.J. Brown had 20 points and 14 rebounds as the Heat overcame a 16-point third-quarter deficit at Oakland for their seventh consecutive road victory.

Miami won for the first time in 11 road games when trailing after three quarters. Tim Hardaway had 24 points and 10 assists, and Brown had 16 points and nine rebounds in the second half.

Donyell Marshall had 28 points for Golden State and Erick Dampier had 22.

Seattle 88, Denver 68--Greg Anthony had a season-high 15 points, including three three-point baskets in the fourth quarter at Seattle, as the SuperSonics handed the Nuggets their seventh consecutive loss.

Anthony, Gary Payton’s backup at point guard, helped keep the persistent Nuggets at bay in the fourth period. Payton led the SuperSonics with 17 points.

Aaron Williams scored 15 points for Seattle. Anthony Goldwire had 18 points for Denver.

Phoenix 97, San Antonio 79--Danny Manning and Dennis Scott came off the bench to spark a big fourth quarter for the Suns at Phoenix, which won its season-best fifth in a row.

Manning had nine of his team-high 17 points in the final period and Scott hit two three-point shots.

Jason Kidd had 10 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Suns.

Will Perdue scored 16 points and had a season-high 19 rebounds for San Antonio.

Portland 121 Boston 96--Arvydas Sabonis had 23 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists as the Trail Blazers ruined Kenny Anderson’s return to Portland.

The Blazers led by as many as 19 points in the second quarter before blowing out the Celtics in the second half.

The Celtics, playing their eighth road game in 12 days, were led by Ron Mercer’s 28 points. Anderson had 14 points.