Hakeem Olajuwon is proving there's a lot of basketball life in him at age 30.
Olajuwon, whose birthday was Thursday, scored 18 of his 31 points in the first half as the Houston Rockets took an early lead and never wavered in their eighth consecutive victory, 113-100 Saturday night over the Indiana Pacers."The older you get, the easier it is because you know what is important," Olajuwon said. "You have to work on your game, eat healthy, work on your legs and flexibility. All those little things make a difference out there."
Olajuwon also had 15 rebounds for Houston, which had lost seven straight games prior to its streak. Kenny Smith added 15 points for the Rockets, who outshot the Pacers 53.6 percent to 44.7 percent.
Indiana, which lost for the third time in four games, got a season-high 20 points from Pooh Richardson, 17 from Dale Davis and 16 from Detlef Schrempf. But Reggie Miller, averaging 21.6, was held to four points on 1-of-12 shooting.
"This was an opportunity for us," Olajuwon said. "We knew they were struggling, and we have that streak going. They're down, and you have to keep them down."
Magic 127, Mavericks 106
At Orlando, Fla., rookie Shaquille O'Neal matched a career high with 38 points, and had seven blocked shots as the Orlando Magic beat Dallas - keeping the Mavericks winless on the road this season.
Donald Royal added a career-high 28 points for Orlando, which got the game's first six points and kept rolling. The Magic didn't stop until Dallas' latest horror numbers read 3-32 for the season and 0-16 on the road.
O'Neal, whose 38 points duplicated his total in an overtime loss Monday at Philadelphia, scored 13 in the opening period as the Magic moved to a 38-28 lead. He blocked five shots in the third period to set a team record, and also played his first professional contest without picking up a personal foul.
Suns 110, Hawks 91
At Atlanta, Charles Barkley had 32 points and 16 rebounds as the Phoenix Suns overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Atlanta Hawks.
Sixers 113, Bucks 104
At Milwaukee, Jeff Hornacek scored nine of his 33 points in the final 1:41 as the Philadelphia 76ers beat struggling Milwaukee, handing the Bucks a record sixth straight home loss.
Blue Edwards and Eric Murdock led the Bucks with 21 points each. Frank Brickowski added 20 points.
Nuggets 97, Cavaliers 95
At Denver, Chris Jackson scored four of his 28 points in the final 30 seconds as the Denver Nuggets rallied to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Dikembe Mutombo had 12 rebounds as the Nuggets outboarded the Cavaliers 44-36.
Kings 113, Timberwolves 108
In Sacramento, Calif., Mitch Richmond scored 24 points as the Sacramento Kings ended a three-game home losing streak.