Pacers’ Streak Ends in Rout by Suns

While the Indiana Pacers usually win at home and struggle on the road, this wasn’t a struggle. This was a collapse.

Clifford Robinson scored 22 points and Jason Kidd matched his season high with 15 assists Thursday night at Phoenix as the Suns emphatically ended Indiana’s five-game winning streak, 118-87.

“This is the worst that we’ve been beaten in the three years I’ve been here,” Indiana Coach Larry Bird said. “We’ve had a lot of bad games, but not this bad.”

Kidd narrowly missed a triple-double with nine rebounds and eight points. Kidd’s backup, Randy Livingston, added a career-high 16 points. Tom Gugliotta scored 19, Penny Hardaway 15 and Shawn Marion 14 for the Suns, who won their ninth in a row at home.

Travis Best scored 20, Jalen Rose 19 and Reggie Miller 15 for the Pacers, who hadn’t lost by more than 14 all season.

Phoenix outscored Indiana on fastbreak points, 21-0, and in the paint, 46-18.

The Suns and Pacers were two of the NBA’s hottest teams entering the game. Phoenix won for the 10th time in 12 games. The Central Division-leading Pacers, who play the Lakers tonight, had won nine of 10 and 13 of 15, but never led against the Suns.

Minnesota 108, San Antonio 102--Kevin Garnett scored 23 points at San Antonio to lead the Timberwolves to their second victory over the Spurs in five days.

Malik Sealy added 20 points for Minnesota, which beat San Antonio three of four games this season. Garnett also pulled down 13 rebounds.

David Robinson scored 24 points to lead San Antonio, which played its fourth consecutive game without Tim Duncan, sidelined by a lower abdominal strain. The Spurs are 2-2 in those games.

New Jersey 103, Dallas 102--Keith Van Horn’s 15-foot buzzer-beater lifted the Nets at Dallas.

Trailing, 102-101, the Nets forced a turnover when Van Horn flicked the ball away from Erick Strickland and New Jersey’s Scott Burrell took possession with 5.3 seconds left.

Dallas had a foul to give and Strickland took it, fouling Stephon Marbury with 2.2 seconds left. Van Horn took the ensuing inbounds pass and sank a jumper from near the free-throw line as time expired.

Miami 101, Seattle 83--Jamal Mashburn scored 29 points at Miami as the Heat ended a six-year drought against the SuperSonics.

The Heat beat the SuperSonics for the first time since Feb. 17, 1994.

New York 109, Milwaukee 94--Latrell Sprewell scored 18 of his season-high tying 32 points during a third-quarter outburst at New York.

Sprewell was eight of nine from the field and Chris Childs scored all 13 of his points in the third quarter as the Knicks outscored the Bucks, 36-17, to turn a six-point halftime deficit into a 13-point lead.

Orlando 104, Charlotte 96--Ron Mercer scored 19 points and the Magic got strong play from its reserves at Orlando, Fla.

Chucky Atkins led Orlando’s reserves with 14 points, while Pat Garrity added 13, Monty Williams 10 and Corey Maggette nine.

Philadelphia 87, Washington 84--Allen Iverson actually played like someone with a shoulder injury. His 64-game streak of double-figure scoring ended, leaving Toni Kukoc to lead the 76ers’ come-from-behind victory at Washington.

Kukoc had 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists off the bench, his best game since he was traded by Chicago on Feb. 16, while Iverson had only five points on two-for-18 shooting.

Houston 102, Sacramento 99--Cuttino Mobley scored 10 of his 22 points in the final five minutes to lead the Rockets at Houston.

Chris Webber led Sacramento with 29 points.

Cleveland 114, Chicago 110--Lamond Murray made a three-point basket with 41 seconds left in overtime and tipped in Andre Miller’s long-range miss 30 seconds later as the Cavaliers held off the Bulls at Chicago.

Around the League

An arbitrator will hear arguments today on whether John Starks can forfeit the remainder of his salary and be released by Chicago so he can become a free agent and join a playoff contender for the rest of the season. “If this team was in the playoff race, I’d love to be here. No question,” Starks said. “But that’s not the case. Every player that plays the game wants to win a championship. I’m no different.” . . . Rolando Blackman, Dallas’ career-leading scorer, will have his No. 22 jersey retired during halftime of Dallas’ game against Phoenix on March 11.