Anthony Blazes the Way as Portland Defeats Utah

Greg Anthony made two big three-point shots in the fourth quarter Thursday night and the Portland Trail Blazers pulled away from the Utah Jazz to win, 85-75, in a physical, intense game at Portland, Ore.

Jermaine O’Neal, getting his most significant playing time of the season, added 14 points and Damon Stoudamire had 13 for the Portland, which has won four in a row.

Karl Malone of the Jazz scored a season-low 12 points, leaving him 12 short of joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to score 30,000.

Utah, coming off an embarrassing home loss to the Vancouver Grizzlies on Wednesday night, made a season-low 32% of its shots. Bryon Russell had one of the worst nights of his career, making only one of 16 shots and finishing with four points.

San Antonio 92, Minnesota 80--Tim Duncan had 20 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots at San Antonio as the Spurs ended the Timberwolves’ six-game road winning streak.

Duncan, who did not score in the fourth quarter, led a balanced San Antonio attack that included 19 points from David Robinson and 18 from Avery Johnson.

Vancouver 108, New Jersey 106--Michael Dickerson made a fallaway jumper at the buzzer at Vancouver as the Grizzles ended a seven-game losing streak.

With three seconds to play, Dennis Scott inbounded the ball to Dickerson, who dribbled right from the top of the key and put up a 10-footer.

Dickerson, who scored 29 points, spoiled a remarkable effort by Stephon Marbury.

The Net point guard scored 23 of his career-high 42 points in the fourth quarter, tying the score at 106-106 when he banked in a three-point shot with three seconds remaining.

Golden State 115, Houston 110--The Warriors scored the final 11 points at Houston and overcame a triple-double by Rocket rookie Steve Francis.

Francis had 25 points and career highs of 17 rebounds and 14 assists.

Charlotte 117, Detroit 102--David Wesley took another step in his recovery from the death of close friend Bobby Phills with a 24-point effort at Charlotte, N.C.

Cleveland 102, Orlando 90--Lamond Murray scored 24 points and Shawn Kemp had 20 points and 14 rebounds at Cleveland.

Around the League

Mark Davis of the Golden State Warriors and Gary Trent of the Dallas Mavericks were each suspended for one game without pay by the NBA. Trent also was fined $10,000 and Davis $7,500. Davis was penalized for picking up the Dallas Mavericks’ Shawn Bradley and throwing him to the floor. Bradley was fined $3,000 for retaliating. Trent was suspended for confronting the Golden State Warriors’ Vonteego Cummings in the locker room. Cummings was fined $7,500 for a flagrant foul against Steve Nash. . . . Doug Sosnik, one of President Clinton’s top advisors, plans to leave the White House for a high-ranking job with the NBA. He will be a senior vice president for communications and strategy.