Rose Fills the Void; Spurs Stop Denver

The San Antonio Spurs didn’t have David Robinson Saturday night, and thanks to Malik Rose they didn’t need him.

Rose scored 21 points, including 10 in the first period, and had a career-high 14 rebounds as the Spurs defeated the Denver Nuggets, 106-87, at San Antonio. The Spurs were without the services of Robinson, who missed the game with cervical back spasms that he suffered in Friday night’s 121-98 victory against Boston.

“I always expect to box out, do my job on the boards,” said Rose. “When you have the two trees out there, they tend to get most of the rebounds. I try to help them as much as possible by keeping as many people off the boards as I can.”

With Robinson out of the game, the Nuggets turned their defensive attention to Tim Duncan, who still finished with 17 points and 17 rebounds.

“Duncan is going to get his points and rebounds,” said Denver Coach Dan Issel, “but Malik made sure that his playing instead of David wasn’t going to let them get beat. His play was really the difference.”

With San Antonio only leading 69-66 after three quarters, Terry Porter scored 14 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Spurs pulled away from the Nuggets. The loss ended Denver’s season-high four-game winning streak.

Phoenix 129, New Jersey 90--Rookie Shawn Marion scored 27 points as the Suns routed the Nets at Phoenix for their fifth consecutive victory.

Jason Kidd and Clifford Robinson each added 19 points while Rodney Rogers had 14 for the Suns.

New Jersey, which has won only two games this season, has lost eight of its last nine.

Toronto 106, Golden State 88--Antonio Davis scored a season-high 28 points at Oakland and the Raptors sent the undermanned Warriors to their fifth consecutive loss.

Vince Carter added 22 points to lead the Raptors who had a 29-8 lead barely seven minutes into the game. By halftime, the Raptors were in front by 30 points and the Warriors spent the rest of the night simply trying to keep it from getting worse.

Golden State was short-handed for the game, missing five of its top seven players. Donyell Marshall (left knee tendinitis), John Starks (right knee tendinitis) and Chris Mills (left ankle soreness) did not suit up. Two other starters, Jason Caffey (right Achilles tendinitis) and Erick Dampier (left knee surgery) are both on the injured list.

Philadelphia 82, Milwaukee 79--Eric Snow scored a season-high 18 points and rookie teammate Todd MacCulloch added 16 to lead the 76ers to a victory over the Bucks at Milwaukee.

Ray Allen, who led Milwaukee with 23 points, missed what would have been a game-tying three-point basket as time expired.

The Bucks had a 71-67 lead with 7:45 left in the game when Philadelphia made its comeback by going on a 7-0 run.

Cleveland 106, Charlotte 89--Lamond Murray and Andrew DeClercq each scored 16 points as the Cavaliers defeated the cold-shooting Hornets at Cleveland.

Murray also had 16 rebounds as Cleveland held a 55-40 rebounding advantage. The Cavaliers were coming off a season-worst 23-point loss Friday night in Philadelphia.

The Hornets, who fell to 1-5 on the road, shot only 33% from the field.

Atlanta 94, Boston 84--Isaiah Rider scored 30 points and Dikembe Mutombo had 17 points and 17 rebounds as the Hawks rallied to defeat the Celtics at Atlanta.

One day after wasting a 21-point advantage and losing, 114-112, to Milwaukee, the Celtics twice held 14-point leads. But Atlanta closed the gap to 73-72 with a 13-0 run.

Boston went 6:43 without a field goal before Adrian Griffin made a jump shot to give the Celtics a 78-77 lead--their last lead of the game. The Celtics made only two more field goals, one coming on a goaltending call on Mutombo on Antoine Walker’s running jumper.

Dallas 95, Chicago 83--Dirk Nowitzki scored seven of his 17 points during a 17-4 spurt at the start of the third quarter as the Mavericks ended a five-game losing streak with a victory at Dallas.

Michael Finley paced the Mavericks with 24 points, and Shawn Bradley had 17. Rookie Elton Brand’s 18 points led the Bulls, who lost their seventh in a row and fell to 1-12.

Minnesota 113, Vancouver 82--Kevin Garnett, playing on a sore left foot, scored 20 points as the Timberwolves defeated the Grizzlies at Minneapolis to end a three-game losing streak.

Anthony Peeler added 17 points, Joe Smith had 16 and Wally Szczerbiak 14 as all 12 Timberwolves scored at least two points.

Othella Harrington scored 18 points for Vancouver, which lost its seventh consecutive game and for the 29th consecutive time on the road. Shareef Abdur-Rahim had only six points, ending his 97-game streak of double-figure scoring.

Miami 89, Washington 86--Alonzo Mourning scored 30 points as the Heat defeated the Wizards at Miami.

Mourning also had nine rebounds and five blocks as the Heat won for the eighth time in its last 10 games. Jamal Mashburn added 16 points and a career-high 10 assists and Voshon Lenard had 10 of his 13 points in the fourth.

New York 99, Orlando 96--Allan Houston scored 30 points, including a decisive jumper with 21.7 seconds remaining, and Latrell Sprewell added 30 as the Knicks defeated the Magic at New York.

With the Knicks trailing 94-93, Houston received the ball at the top of the key, drove to his right and hit a pull-up jumper over an extended Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Pat Garrity, giving New York the lead for good.

Around the League

The New York Knicks, already down two big men, placed starting forward Larry Johnson on the injured list with a pinched nerve in his back. The Knicks, struggling at 7-7 and missing injured starting center Patrick Ewing and forward Marcus Camby, will be without Johnson’s services for at least the next five games. Johnson, 30, missed two games in early November with the injury and sat out the last three. To fill Johnson’s roster spot the Knicks activated forward DeMarco Johnson, who had been on the injured list since the start of the season with a pinched nerve in his neck. . . . Miami Heat point guard Tim Hardaway sat out his second consecutive game with a jammed right knee. An MRI examination on knee revealed no structural damage, but it is expected that the knee could present problems throughout the season.