First, the crowd warmed to Lenny Wilkens. Then, the Atlanta Hawks turned up the heat on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
"It was tremendous . . . I was pleased by it," Wilkens said of the pregame ovation he got from fans at the Coliseum, where he coached the Cavaliers the previous seven seasons. "It showed the fans appreciated the time we were here."A coach can make the transition easier than a player. For a player, it's an emotional thing. It's a lot easier for a coach to return and keep his focus."
Wilkens had another reason to be happy afterward. Not only did the 103-92 victory Tuesday night extend Atlanta's franchise record to 14 straight. It ended a 10-game losing streak against the Cavaliers.
The Hawks, winless at the Coliseum since April 9, 1991, took the lead on Stacey Augmon's alley-oop dunk with two minutes left and drew away. Atlanta's winning streak is the second-longest in the NBA this season behind Houston's season-opening 15-game run.
Augmon scored 23 points and teammates Dominique Wilkins, Kevin Willis and Mookie Blaylock had 22 each for Atlanta.
John Williams scored 18 for Cleveland, whose point guard Mark Price was sidelined by a bruised calf. Tyrone Hill and Terrell Brandon scored 16 points apiece for the Cavaliers, losers of three straight and six of their last seven games.
SuperSonics 124, Magic 100
Ricky Pierce scored 24 points as Seattle remained unbeaten at home with a victory over Orlando, which lost center Shaquille O'Neal to ejection for a flagrant foul.
O'Neal received a level-2 flagrant foul - which brings automatic ejection - for knocking Shawn Kemp into a TV camera underneath the Seattle basket as the latter was driving for a layup or a dunk. Kemp did not return.
O'Neal, the NBA's scoring leader with 28.8 points coming in, finished with a season-low 16 points and 11 rebounds in 31 minutes.
Rockets 97, Heat 88
Vernon Maxwell scored 25 points and hit four 3-pointers early in the final period as visiting Houston outscored Miami 27-0 from long range.
Knicks 93, Nuggets 84
Patrick Ewing scored 20 points and New York limited Denver to 37 in the second half to win its fourth straight game.
The Knicks, leading the NBA in fewest points allowed (90.9 a game), assumed control at the start of the fourth period, taking an 87-68 lead with 3:52 left after a 16-5 spurt. The Nuggets missed 10 of their first 12 shots of the period.
Trail Blazers 100, Mavericks 93, OT
Cliff Robinson scored four of his 23 points in overtime - including key free throws with 25 seconds left - and Portland handed Dallas its 16th consecutive defeat. The Mavericks are 0-11 at home.
Clyde Drexler scored 25 points to lead Portland and Terry Porter had 20.
Hornets 101, Timberwolves 85
Dell Curry made five consecutive 3-point baskets to break open a tight game and finished with 26 points for Charlotte.
Pacers 106, Bullets 87
Rik Smits had 18 of his 22 points in the first half, and Reggie Miller scored 21 as host Indiana handed Washington its eighth straight loss.
Lakers 99, Pistons 93
Sam Bowie had 21 points and Sedale Threatt 20 as Los Angeles broke a four-game losing streak by beating slump-ridden Detroit.