Hakeem Olajuwon scored 15 of his 25 points in a fourth-quarter rally as the Houston Rockets broke up a five-game losing streak with a 108-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
Olajuwon, in his second game in uniform after missing seven with an irregular heartbeat, keyed a 23-9 spurt in the final 3:52 of the game.The rally started with the Trail Blazers leading 97-85, but the Rockets scored the next 14 points, six by Olajuwon, capped by his tip-in that put Houston ahead 99-97 with 1:23 left.
Portland ended its scoring drought on Buck Williams' layup with 1:09 remaining, tying the score. Then Vern Maxwell put the Rockets ahead to stay with a 3-pointer 19 seconds later.
The rest of the points in the game came at the free-throw line, with the Rockets hitting six without a miss to keep in front.
Clyde Drexler, slowed by muscle spasms in his upper back, led Portland with 24 points, and Kevin Duckworth scored a season-high 23. Otis Thorpe scored 10 of his 20 points in the third period for Houston and finished with 14 rebounds.
Portland, leading 46-43 at halftime, opened the third quarter with an 11-2 burst, and Drexler's layup with 9:17 left in the period made it 57-45 lead.
Drexler game the Trail Blazers their biggest lead, 72-58, with 3:22 remaining in the quarter.
Maxwell's 3-pointer at the end of the period closed Houston to 76-67.
Clippers 127, Warriors 117
At Oakland, Calif., Ron Harper scored 29 points and Los Angeles converted a team-record 47 of 53 free throws en route to its fifth straight victory.
Charles Smith added 11 of his 20 points in the final quarter as the Clippers rallied from an 18-point first-half deficit to improve to 11-10, the latest they have been over .500 since moving to Los Angeles for the 1984-85 season.
Bulls 108, SuperSonics 103
At Chicago, Scottie Pippen had 23 points and the NBA champions received scoring from two unlikely sources - Stacey King with a season-high 22 points and Will Perdue with a season-high 13 - to improve the league's best record to 16-3.
Ricky Pierce, who led Seattle with 30 points, went 5 of 5 from the line to extend his string to 68 straight free throws without a miss. He is 10 shy of eclipsing the NBA record set by Houston's Calvin Murphy in 1980-81.
Suns 102, Pistons 93
At Phoenix, the Suns won their eighth straight game as Kevin Johnson scored 28 points and Dan Majerle added 19 off the bench. Phoenix outscored Detroit 27-9 from the line. Joe Dumars had 25 points and Dennis Rodman 17 points and 23 rebounds for the Pistons.
Knicks 114, Nets 88
At East Rutherford, N.J., Patrick Ewing scored 19 of his 23 points in the first half as New York built a 59-40 lead and coasted. Drazen Petrovic paced New Jersey with 22 points.
Lakers 92, Kings 90
At Sacramento, Calif., Byron Scott struck for 26 points and James Worthy added 24 to guide Los Angeles into sole posession of first place in the Pacific Division. The Kings have dropped their last 14 meetings with the Lakers.
Pacers 109, Spurs 102
At Indianapolis, Reggie Miller scored 25 points, Micheal Williams added 23 points and 10 assists and the Pacers overcame 38 percent shooting to deal the Spurs their fifth straight loss.
David Robinson scored 20 points and blocked eight shots but managed just four rebounds - a career-low - for San Antonio.
Hawks 118, Bucks 104
At Atlanta, Dominique Wilkins continued his scoring binge with 41 points as the Hawks won easily. Teammate Kevin Willis added 24 points and 14 rebounds. Moses Malone, playing his first game in Atlanta since leaving as a free agent, had a season-high 27 points and 13 rebounds for Milwaukee.
Mavericks 114, Heat 110
At Dallas, Rolando Blackman scored 31 points to help the Mavericks snap a four-game losing streak. Miami, which failed to score over the final 2:04, has lost its last five games.